Raising Ashlynn
by jess2002
Summary: Bella meets a man who in one night leaves her body humming for more. What should she do when the next time she sees him, he is dropping off his daughter, begging her to keep her. With an odd sense of obligation, a person who never saw herself as a parent—is now moving across country with a child who thinks Bella is her mother.
1. Chapter 1

PLEASE READ! Hey everyone! I'm back to posting! I'm going to get all of this out of the way now. This story will be a hea! There are 19 chapters. Right now I will be posting once a week mostly likely I will post on Mondays. This is not an olderward story. There will be epovs. There is no warning with this story! This story will have bad words or as I like to say big people words. There will be a couple lemons. Also please remember this is FICTION! Some things may not be completely by the law! The chapter will not be very long. This story is also written to completion. As I get them back from the amazing toocute24 I will post them. Teamalltwilight and Krazi4twisaga have already read the story as well. Thanks to all of you for the help and support you give me! I hope you all enjoy!

I own nothing but the plot proudly!

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"You are so beautiful," he said as he ran his hand down my face.

I blushed as I leaned into him. Anthony was the most handsome man I had ever met. We had met earlier that day and he asked me out. There was no way I was saying no to the hottest man in the world. I knew it was risky, and I knew I didn't know him, but something inside me told me to go for it. I reached up to his face and we pressed our lips to each other's. That one kiss struck something inside of the both of us, and we were all over each other soon after. Neither one of us could get enough. He was kissing me like he was never going to see me again. He did tell me earlier in the day that he lived each day as if he was never going to see another. I liked that about him. I liked that he did what he wanted because there was no certainty in life. I felt like I was meant to meet him.

I loved the way his hands and lips felt on me. It set my body on fire. We didn't even make it past the kitchen before we were naked and he was inside me. I gasped in surprise at the thrust; he was so much bigger than I had ever had. He was fucking me, and it was like nothing I had ever done before. I now knew that fucking was a very good thing and I wanted more.

"You on the pill?"

"Yes," I moaned as he bit my neck. I exploded around him. Once we came down from our high, we found ourselves in my bedroom for round two. It wasn't as fast paced as the first time, but he was still rough.

Once we were done, we laid there spent in each other's arms. I was tracing the tattoo he had on his arm as he played with my hair. I knew I wanted this man again and again. We started to talk which made me smile, because no man I had ever been with struck up a conversation after sex.

"Tell me something no one knows about you," I said as he chuckled.

"I have a daughter," he said as I giggled. "What? Do you think I'm not daddy material?"

"No, not at all. I just don't believe that no one knows," I said as he sighed.

"Okay, there is only one other person who knows, and that is my sister," he said.

"Why doesn't anyone know?"

"Because I don't want them to," he said simply.

"What about her mother?"

"She was killed in a drive-by shooting. When I found out she was dead, I went crazy trying to find my little girl. She was six months old at the time. Ang was an addict, and she had left our baby at her apartment alone. I didn't find out until the next morning that she was dead. I was one lucky son of a bitch to have a baby that slept all night. I busted in to her place just as Ashlynn was waking up," he said as I shook my head to clear such an awful thought away. I didn't know how someone could do that to their baby.

"How old is Ashlynn?"

"Two."

"I'm sure she is the prettiest girl in the world," I said. He spoke with such pride that I didn't have the heart to tell him that I didn't like kids. I didn't know how to talk to them or how to deal them when they cried. I just wasn't a child friendly person.

"She is the light of my life," he said as I awed.

The night went on like that. We shared little secrets; we kissed, and fucked a couple more times. We fell asleep in each other's arms, but when morning came, I woke up alone. I was a little pissed that all he left was a note. It said he would see me soon and that I was the most amazing woman he had ever met. I really didn't know how to feel.

After the shock wore off, I figured I had my first one night stand and I quickly called Alice back in Forks. I told her all about it and that I would be seeing her in two weeks. I couldn't wait to get back home. I had been in Chicago for four years, and I was ready to head home. I always said that I would never go back, but I was finally ready. I had a job all lined up and everything. I had majored in biology and was going to be teaching at the Port A High School. I looked into Forks High, but Port A paid more, and I just wanted to be home. Alice, who I had grown up with, married right after graduation, and she and her husband were trying to have a baby. They were having a hard time conceiving, so I knew that once they had a baby, he or she would be the most spoiled child ever.

A week before I was leaving, a string of bank robberies occurred. The news said the thieves got away with a total of five million dollars. The police said they knew who the robbers were, but unfortunately it took them four days after the last robbery to figure it out. The whole city was in an uproar. In all honesty, after the first four robberies, you would have thought they would have known. I was ready to go back to the smaller town. I wasn't a city girl, after all.

Two days before I left, there was a knock at my door which threw me for a loop. No one I knew ever just showed up. When I opened the door, my jaw dropped.

"Anthony, what are you doing here?" I asked, seeing his sleeping daughter in his arms.

"I need you to keep Lynny, please. If anyone asks, just tell them you're watching your boyfriend's kid. I have all the paperwork you will need. Please, I need you to help me," he begged. He didn't even give me time to answer before he thrust his kid into my arms. I took the sleeping kid with confusion. "I put enough money in your account to take care of both of you. It should last until I get back."

"How long are you going to be gone?" I asked as he ran from my door to his car, giving me everything but a bed for this little girl. "You need to answer my questions!"

"I can't explain. Tell me your social…"

"Fuck you!"

"Tell me so I can find you," he said, staring into my eyes.

"How long are you going to be gone?"

"I don't know, a few years…"

"A few years!?"

"I'm sorry! Please? I trust you."

"What about your sister?"

"She's going away, too. Tell me your social," he said again before I finally gave in and gave it to him. "I'll find you as soon as I can. She thinks I'm going to school and I'll be back as soon as I can. Tell her I love her every day. Please don't let her forget me. Please, Baby?" he asked as he cupped my cheek.

"You are scaring me. What are you running from?"

"I'm not running, that's why I need you. Bella, I need you to take her. You're the only one who knows of her," he said as his eyes filled with tears. "I told her you were her mom. Make up any story you want. I don't care as long as she is safe."

"Anthony…"

"Say yes, please Baby? I'll find you as soon as I can." All I did was nod as my tears fell. He kissed Ashlynn on the head and confessed his love to her. "Don't let her forget me," he said as he kissed me soundly. He kissed me like I was never going to see him again. "When I find you, we will be together." That was the last thing he said to me as he ran from my door.

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That is the first chapter and I hope you all want more! Yes Anthony is Edward, you will find that out when Bella does. Let me know if you're gonna stick with me!


	2. Chapter 2

Wow the reviews have been amazing! I never thought this story would take off like it has after only one chapter! Thank you so much! Thank you, Sally, for the baby talk!

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After the shock of what just happened wore off, I laid Ashlynn down on the couch and searched for all the papers he said he gave me. I had no clue what to do with a toddler. I found her birth certificate, social security card, medical records, and papers stating that I was her guardian indefinitely. Everything I needed to raise her was there. He wrote a list of Ashlynn's likes and dislikes, and he told me the dates of all of her firsts so I could tell people stories as if she was my own. I was so overwhelmed. The letter said that she was a bright little girl and had an extensive vocabulary. He planned this very carefully. He knew this was going to happen. There were a ton of pictures of Anthony with Ashlynn, and I smiled at how happy they looked. Why would he do something to put her in danger? Why would he leave her and act like he wasn't coming back for years? I wondered what could have happened to make him leave her with a stranger. I had so many questions that only he could answer, and I hoped one day I could get those answers.

"Hi, Mommy. Daddy go to schoo now?" the sweetest voice said.

I looked over to the cutest green eyed little girl; she took my breath away and I fell instantly in love. "Yeah," I said giving her a sad smile. I didn't know how I was going to lie to her for years. Years…I couldn't wrap my head around that. I didn't understand why he even trusted me.

"You pwetty, Mommy. Same haiw," she said, crawling to me from the other side of the couch. She put herself on her knees and then ran her fingers through my hair.

"You have very pretty hair, too," I said with a smile.

"You wike-ed school?" she asked.

"Did Daddy tell you I was at school?" I questioned as she shook her head yes. "Yeah, but now it's Daddy turn. Are you okay with that?"

"Him be back soon," she said with a smile. All I could do was smile back.

"So…can you walk?" She nodded her head yes, getting off the couch and running around the coffee table. "Do you use the big potty?"

"Yup!" she said proudly. "At night-night, too."

"That is so awesome," I said, letting out a sigh of relief. "Have you ever been to Washington?"

"Nope, we go?"

"Yup, we are going to go live with my daddy for a little bit."

"Yay!" she said, making me laugh.

The drive home took forever. It was way longer when you had a child in the car. She was very good, though. She colored quietly or sang to the radio. I also told her stories about princesses in faraway kingdoms. I loved that she enjoyed the stories I told her.

I told Charlie and Renee that I had something huge to tell them when I got there. When my mom got excited and started saying I was pregnant, I told her it was even better than that. That confused the hell out of them both. I didn't want Ashlynn to be a gigantic shock, so I wanted them to expect something big. I knew I would tell my dad everything I could, and I knew he was going to freak. Something inside me told me to make sure she was taken care of. I had to hope my parents would fall in love with her as quickly as I did.

"Awe we home? I wanna see Memah and Papa." I may have told her we were going to meet her grandparents. I was hoping that she would call them Memah and Papa, and that they would fall quick and fast.

After three days of driving, we pulled into Forks City limits. It felt great to be home.

"Awe we dere yet?" Ashlynn whined. She was extra cranky, but I understood after being stuck in a car for three days.

"Almost, Kid. Just a few more minutes," I said as she sat up straighter in her booster seat.

"Potty, Mommy," she said.

"Two minutes. Hold it, okay?" I said, trying to watch my tongue. I knew I was going to have to some patience with her. As soon as the car was in park, she unbuckled herself before I even had the chance to shut the engine off. I was glad I remembered to put the child locks on.

"Potty," she said again. I knew she really needed to go, so I rushed her into the house and we ran to the bathroom, making it just in time.

"Bella?" I heard from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, Ma; be right out," I said as I helped Ashlynn wash her hands.

"Is that Memah?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Who's in there with you?" my mom asked.

"One second, Mom," I said as we dried her hands. "Ready?" I asked as Ash smiled big. I opened the door, and as Ashlynn walked through, my mother's face fell.

"Hi, Memah!" Ashlynn said as my mom squatted down do her height.

"What's your name, pretty girl?" I looked to my right and saw my dad standing there slack jawed.

"Ashwynn Wee Masen," she said with a big smile.

"Ashlynn Marie Masen, this is my mommy and daddy," I said as my parents looked to me.

"Hi, Papa!" she said with a wave.

"Bella, what's going on?" my dad asked.

"Mommy, I have a snack?" Ash asked me as I nodded.

"Mommy?" both my parents asked at the same time. Ashlynn followed me into the kitchen and I found her a cookie.

"Mommy, Daddy says no cookies," she said, tapping her fingers on the table.

"Well, Daddy's not here right now, so one cookie isn't going to hurt," I said as she sighed.

"Okay, but him not be happy wif you," she said as I shook my head.

"Where is your daddy?" Charlie asked.

"At schoo," Ashlynn said as if the whole world knew. "Miwk, pwease," she said as I quickly got her milk.

"Listen, Kid, sit here and eat your cookie and don't choke," I said.

"Isabella!" my mother scolded.

"Mommy funny," Ashlynn laughed.

"Oh yeah, she's so funny. Go with your father; I'll sit with Ashlynn," Renee said as I nodded.

"You have so much explaining to do," my dad said as we headed for the door. "Speak," he said once the door was closed.

"Dad, please don't be mad."

"Why is that little girl calling you Mommy?"

"Because her father told her I was her mom."

"What happened to her mom?"

"She was killed while trying to score some drugs when Ashlynn was six month old," I said as he sighed.

"Where is her father?"

"I don't know. He begged me to take her and said he would find us a soon as he could," I said as my dad threw his hands in the air. "Dad I think he's in trouble. I feel like I need to protect her. Only Anthony, his sister, and I know about her."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"What the fuck have you gotten yourself into, Isabella?" I flinched back as his harsh tone.

"Dad, I didn't know what to do. He came to me crying, begging me to take her," I said as I started to get choked up. "Something told me not to turn him away."

"You don't even like kids," he accused.

"I couldn't say no." My dad groaned as he scratched his face.

"Let's get this shit into the house and then we will go down to the station and figure this out."

"NO! I don't want her to be taken away!"

"I didn't say that she needed to be taken away, but we are going to find her piece of shit father."

"Fine," I said as we started to unload the car.

Once we had everything in my room and the extra room, my dad made sure I didn't forget we were going to the station.

"Come on, Ash, we have to go for a ride," I said as she started to cry.

"I no wanna go in da caw. Memah, me stay hewe?" she asked my mom with a pout.

"She needs a nap…"

"No nap. Me big girl," she said with an even bigger pout.

"You can stay with me, but I'm going to talk to Bella for a minute," Mom said as Ash looked at her in confusion.

"My name is Bella, Kid," I said with a giggle.

"No, you Mommy," she said with a bright smile.

"Be good," I said as I headed out to the porch. I could see Ashlynn sitting at the table eating apple slices.

"What is going on, Mommy?" my mother asked with her arms crossed.

"Renee, it's too much to explain at this moment. Short story, we need to find that little girl's father. He just dropped her off and begged Bella to take care of her," Dad said as Mom's eyes filled with tears.

"Are they in trouble?" she asked.

"That's what we are going to find out," Dad said as Mom nodded.

"We'll be back soon," I assured her as we headed off the porch.

"Bells, if something is seriously wrong, we have to inform social services," Dad said in a tone I knew not to argue with. Honestly, that was the last thing I wanted to have happen.

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There you have it! Hope you liked it just as much! Just so you know even though this was an early update I won't make you wait a week for the next! I'll probably update Wednesday or Thrusday!


	3. Chapter 3

After an hour of searching, we finally had a break through. The only hit that popped up for Anthony Masen was on Ashlynn's birth certificate, but that was it. There was no social security number or anything for him. Charlie widened the search and found out that Anthony Masen was Ashlynn's great grandfather. When Charlie pulled up the mug shot of the Anthony that I knew, his name was different.

"Is this him, by chance?" Dad asked as I froze.

"Yeah, that's him," I said. "What does it say about him?"

"Well, Kid, it's not good, but it doesn't make sense, either," he said as he clicked away on his keyboard. "His name is Edward Masen. He was brought up in a very wealthy family. He was a straight edge student…a straight edge everything. He has never committed a crime or been arrested until earlier this week," he said as I stared at Edward's very sad looking mug shot.

"Dad, I think he's a good guy. Is someone setting him up?" I asked.

"I don't know. According to this, he was involved in the string of bank robberies. His sister, Rosalie, has been arrested as well, with her husband Royce King. This King guy is bad fucking news," he said. "I think this kid was caught up with the wrong people or he was protecting his sister."

"Dad, I have to keep Ashlynn. He loves her so much," I said as my dad rubbed my back.

"With what I can see here, Edward may get less time than the others. They can't find his cut of the money. The only thing they have on him is his finger print from a handle," he said as I let out a large breath. Maybe this wasn't as bad as it seemed.

"Why change his name and hide Ash like he has done? Oh, my god," I said as something hit me suddenly. I quickly opened my cell phone and logged into my bank account. It took forever for the page to open up, but as soon as I saw how much money was in my bank account, my mouth went dry. I found Edward's cut of the money.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked as I stared at my phone. The money was deposited into my account as if it was a direct deposited pay check. There were many different deposits.

"Dad…I…" He took my cell and started to cough when he saw the amount in my account. "What do I do?"

"We'll talk about it at home," he said quietly as he logged off my account. I couldn't keep the money. I mean, I could…NO, I could not keep the money! "It looks like he took a plea deal. If he serves seven years with no infraction, he will be out without any parole or probation."

"Seven years?" I asked in a whisper. I watched as Dad cleared his history and we got up to leave. Of course we had to speak with a few people, but I just wanted to get home.

The ride to the house was quiet, and Ashlynn was still sleeping when we got back. Mom said she hadn't been sleeping long, though. We sat down and filled her in on everything we knew. We were all conflicted as to what to do.

"Ignorance is bliss, Kid," my dad said, giving me a stomachache. I didn't know if I could do this.

That was the way we stayed, too. We acted as if Ashlynn was my daughter, and my parents were the happy grandparents. We did anything and everything we could to take care of and to protect that amazing little girl. No one ever came looking for her or anything. Dad did some searching on our home computer to figure out how Edward put the money into my account, but he made it look like I did an internship for some big business. The man was smart, that I was sure of.

Alice fell in love with Ash as soon as she saw her. She tried her damndest to get me to talk about how I got Ashlynn, but I didn't even want my best friend to know. I told her that she was my daughter. She of all people knew I was lying, but that was the way it had to be. Alice was so offended that I didn't tell her the truth, that we grew apart. I did what I had to do for Ashlynn, and if she couldn't respect that, then there was nothing I could do.

Ashlynn had a meltdown the first week I had to work. I made the mistake of saying I had to go to school, and she thought I wasn't coming back. We had to reassure her every day that I would indeed be back. It broke my heart every time she would cry. She got better as the months went on, and for that, I was grateful.

I saw Alice in the store a couple months after we stopped talking, and she told me she was finally pregnant. I was happy for her, but I knew she and I would never have the same friendship that we had before. I wished Alice the best of luck and I told her to keep me updated, but who knew if she would. I had come to terms with it. Being a mom was a full time job, and I was doing what I had to do.

I found that I was a pretty good mom, though. My mother said I expected too much from Ash and I wasn't sensitive enough, but other than that, I had a pretty good handle on the parenting thing. I made sure she had anything and everything she needed or wanted. I was so happy she was so well behaved for the amount of spoiling she was getting. I made sure she had the best birthdays and holidays. I also made sure that I took as many pictures as I could so I could show Edward that I had taken great care of her. I had even started an Ashlynn tot in hopes that he would be able to see everything that I had given her. That and I had hoped that when he came back around, he would stay so I could keep her.

I had thought about writing him, but I was scared to. I had a nagging suspicion that he was hiding her for a reason, and I couldn't do anything to put her in danger. My dad kept an eye on Edward, so we knew when he would be getting out of jail. I did as he asked and I made sure she never forgot him. Every night before bed, we would sit and look at pictures. I did learn a lot during that time. She made Edward out to be the best Daddy in the world, and I believed he was. I just wanted to know what he was hiding from. I hoped that when he came back around, he wouldn't take Ash away from me. I didn't want to lose her. I even bought a house in hopes that he would just stay with us instead of breaking us apart. The house wasn't huge or anything, but it was ours.

When Ashlynn started school, I thought for sure she was going to freak out, but she did amazing. She was so smart and she loved her teacher. She made a lot of friends, but her best friend was Emily Uley. I went to high school with her parents. We all became fast friends, and our girls were inseparable. That was another reason why I hoped Edward didn't take her away when he came back into our lives. She was happy and growing into such a beautiful young girl. I was very lucky that everyone bought my story that I was her mother.

I had my dad find a picture of her mother so I could see who she looked more like. She was her father through and through. I really couldn't see what her mother looked like except for the fact that she was a skeleton with skin stretched over it. She was the stereotypical crack head. I was grateful that Ashlynn was healthy. Who knows what her mother took while she was carrying her. That was another question I wanted to ask. I wanted to know how the two of them got together.

There were good days and bad days with Ashlynn. Some days she was so sad, thinking that her father was never coming back. She had said many times that she was never going to college because she didn't want to be away for a long time. One day, I knew we would have to tell her the truth. She was so bright; she could be a rocket scientist if that's what she wanted. I was even planning ahead and I put aside a large chunk of money so Ashlynn could go to any college of her choice. I didn't want her to worry about anything.

I loved watching her in every chorus and band concert that she was in. She loved playing softball, too. I had come to the conclusion that she was going to excel at everything she ever did. At night, I would sit up and grade papers, hoping that I wasn't wasting my life. I never had a boyfriend after Edward. I just couldn't. I kept telling myself that I wasn't waiting for him, but I was, and I had no idea why. For all I knew, he could show up, take Ashlynn, and leave.

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Now we know what has happened to Edward. I'm pretty sure he is coming back in the next chapter! The reviews for this story have been awesome! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave one. Thanks to my girls for the help.

There is a link on my profile for my Facebook group if you would like to join.


	4. Chapter 4

We found out the day Edward was released from prison, but two weeks later, he still hadn't shown up. A part of me was wondering why it was taking so long. I knew it would probably take some time to find me, I just hoped he would come back to give my girl some peace of mind. It was springtime, and Ashlynn only had a few softball games left in the season. I had after school study sessions, so I wasn't getting home until later in the evening. My mom and dad had been making sure Ash got to whatever practice she needed to be at and I would meet them there.

"Hey, I need to go home and shower and then I'll be at the field," I said to my mother as she laughed.

"That's fine, just don't forget that it's your turn to bring snacks," she said as I groaned. I had forgotten all about it. I hated the whole soccer mom thing, but I did my part. I was pretty sure I had enough of what I needed at home. I hung up with my mom, and as I pulled up to my house, my world froze. Edward was sitting on the front steps. We stared at each other for a while before I pulled myself together. He looked the same, but older, I guess. He was wearing the same clothes I last saw him in. I had no idea what to even say to him. Did I want to be a bitch or did I want to play nice? I had no clue. As I was getting out of the car my cell went off. I saw that it was Ashlynn.

"Hey, Kid," I said as I stopped in front of Edward.

"Mom!" she yelled as I pulled the phone away from my ear. I saw Edward's face light up. "Please don't forget to bring snacks. Did Grandma tell you?"

"Yes, I just got home. I think we have enough stuff here," I said as I stared at Edward.

"Awesome! Can I stay at Emily's tonight?"

"No, not on a school night; you know this," I said, giving her my best mom tone. I was pretty good at it now.

"Fine," she said, dragging the word out. "Love you."

"Love you, too, Kid," I said as I clicked my phone shut. "You are not taking her from me." I guess I was going with the bitch factor.

"I didn't plan on it," he said, standing up. He was taller than I remembered. "Plus, I have no money and no place to go."

"Sucks to be you," I said as I walked around him to the front door. "Come in." He followed me inside, and once the door was shut, I raised my voice. "Tell me why you were hiding, Edward. Tell me the truth."

"You know my name?"

"I know pretty much everything," I said as he nodded his head.

"How?"

"I asked you first," I said as I made my way to the kitchen.

"Royce would have killed her if he knew about her. My sister crossed him. It was join or die for me. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. My sister begged me because Royce was ready to kill me to hurt her. I didn't know what else to do. Then I met you, and I just knew I could trust you," he said as I pulled fruit snacks and juice boxes out of the pantry.

"I figured as much. I have learned a lot about you over the years. It's sad that you had to waste so much time. Is she safe now?" I asked as we made eye contact.

"She was safe the minute you took her," he said, reaching his hand out to me.

"You know what I mean," I said, heading for my room.

"Royce was killed before his first year was served," he said as I started to change. "He went into the pond thinking that he was the big fish."

"I have a lot of your money left, so I'll give it back," I said as I rushed around to get ready for Ash's game.

"It was never my money," he said as I rolled my eyes. "Where's Lynny?"

"She's at her softball game," I said, heading back toward the kitchen.

"How is she?" he asked as I bagged the snacks up.

"She is extraordinary. There is no other word to describe her. Although, she says she is never going to college, so you need to tell her the truth." He didn't say anything in response; he knew I was right.

"Did she forget me?"

"We can talk in the car, come on," I said, rushing him out of the house. Once we were seated, I started to talk. "No, I did everything you asked. I took care of her and I made sure she didn't forget."

"Thank you," he said, placing his hand on my thigh.

"Whatever. I noticed you had no bag."

"No biggy. I'm going to go out and find a job," he said as I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, before you get thrown off guard, there are some things you should know. My father is a cop; my mother is nosy as hell and has passed that trait on to our kid. Also, Ashlynn has a boyfriend…"

"What!?"

"Don't yell," I said, shaking my head. "They are so cute together. His name is Aiden, and he comes to all of her games."

"She's only nine!"

"Still, they do nothing worse than hold hands and chase each other around. Sometimes they sit on the phone and say nothing at all," I said, laughing.

"I don't like it," he said with a huff. "Did you say your dad is a cop?"

"I did. He's the Chief of Police in this town," I said his face paled. "How do you think I knew so much about you?"

"I really don't know," he said with a shrug.

"Yeah, if it wasn't for my dad, I would have said you abandoned Ash and just adopted her," I said as his breathing hitched. "You really need thank him."

"Why would he stick up for me?"

"Because, Mr. Square, you are a father's dream for his daughter. You came from a good family, had a good upbringing, and you were a good, straight-laced boy…until you robbed a bank," I said. I could feel him staring at me. "My dad said that you must have either gotten caught up with the wrong crowd, or you were protecting your sister. He kind of pegged you."

"I've cut ties with my sister."

"I didn't ask you to do that," I said, not wanting to be the reason.

"I haven't spoken to her since we were split up at the station. She's no better than Ang was. I knew better. I should have gotten away from the both of them as soon as Ashlynn was born. I've missed everything!" he said, getting upset.

"Buck up," I told him, slamming the car into park. "Fuck up and I will kill you. We have enough money to have a good life, so there will be no need to rob a bank."

"Let it go…please," he said through his teeth.

"You make me laugh. I'm never going to let you live this down. It will be our own little joke. I think I have the right to that since you did nothing but lie to me and the leave me. So yeah, if I want to joke about it I can," I snapped. "Now, quit being a sourpuss and put a smile on your face. You, Sir, get to meet your daughter and my parents."

* * *

Yay! Edward's back! This will have an HEA! I wanted to get this out today because tomorrow is a holiday in my house! Go 9ers!


	5. Chapter 5

This story is doing so great! Thanks for all the reviews. It has been seven years, Ashlynn is now nine, I know a lot of you have asked. I ask that you please be nice with your comment about her for the fact that I wrote Ashlynn the way my nine year old acts.

* * *

I got out of the car and grabbed the bags from the back. I was shocked when Edward took them from me. He followed behind me as we made our way to the bleachers. Once we got there, I told Edward to sit wherever he wanted, and I had to laugh when he sat right next to my father. I sat next to my mom and she stared at Edward. I nudged her to get her to stop.

"How's she doing?" I asked.

"She struck out at bat, but pitched two outs," my dad said proudly.

"That's my girl," I said with a big smile. "They up to bat?"

"Yup; she may not get to bat this time, but they seem to be hitting off this pitcher pretty well, and their out fielders are scared of the ball," Dad said with a chuckle.

"Hey, B," Sam said, walking over. "Just giving you a heads up, the girls want to have a sleepover tonight."

"Number one, you need to stop making me be the bad guy," I said, narrowing my eyes at him. "Number two, I already said no."

"You know I would make them go to bed at a proper hour," he said with an eye roll.

"You told them you would try to talk me into it!" I accused as he rubbed his face.

"They looked so sad."

"The answer is no. Sam, you need to stop letting them walk all over you," I said.

"I don't let them walk all over me!"

"My daughter came home with purple hair! 'Dad told us we could,'" I said, mocking my daughter's voice.

"It was just Kool-aid," he said as I rolled my eyes. "Fine, no sleepover," he said, crossing his arms. "We still on for tonight?"

"No, we have plans. Where's Leah?"

"She'll be here," he said as he caught Edward's eye. Edward looked pissed, but there was nothing I could do about it. "Em's up." I jumped to my feet and cheered for Emily. She was like another daughter to me. The kid could hit, and she was the fastest runner on the team. She cracked the ball and made it all the way to third base. I cheered loudly along with the crowd.

"Hey, Bella," Aidan said as he walked up to me.

"Hey, Bud. What's going on?" He didn't really talk to me unless he wanted to ask me something.

"Lynn did really good last inning," he said with a smile. I found it weird that her father had the same nickname for her.

"I heard."

"Um…can she go with us on Saturday to Adventure Land?" he asked, looking down at his feet.

"I'm not sure. I'll let her know tomorrow," I said as he nodded his head.

"Thanks," he said, walking over to the dugout. From where I was sitting, I could see Ash narrow her eyes as Aidan spoke to her. I knew I was going to hear about it after the game. I was nervous at how she was going to react to her father, too. I would be lying if I said I wasn't. My kid wasn't stupid, but I truly believed she thought her father was away at school.

When the girls headed out for the field, I watched Edward's face. My parents did, as well. I looked to my daughter to see if she had noticed, but she hadn't. She looked so cute in her uniform. Her long hair was pulled back, and as I squinted my eyes, I could see makeup on her face.

"Mom!" I yelled, drawing her attention to me. "You let her wear makeup?!"

"Just some mascara. She has the longest lashes I have ever seen," Mom explained. All I did was shake my head.

Edward watched our girl intently and his smile grew more and more. I could see that he wanted to cheer for her, but he held back. "She is really good! Like really good!" he said with a proud daddy smile.

"You should hear her play the flute," Charlie told him.

"No, he needs to hear that angel sing," Renee added.

"I can't wait," he said, making me smile.

"Oh, yeah; Renee, Charlie—this is Edward," I said as if it was no big deal.

Not another word was spoken the rest of the game unless it was cheering for our girl. When it was over, Mom and I quickly got the snacks ready. The kids gathered around us and the snacks were passed out. Ashlynn made her way over to us hand-in-hand with Aidan, who was carrying her bag. I looked over my shoulder to see Edward standing back with Sam and Charlie.

"Mom, I'm going on Saturday. We don't have any plans," she whined.

"We will talk about it later," I said, narrowing my eyes at her.

"It's okay, Lynn. Don't make her mad or she will say no," Aidan said.

"Did Dad talk to you?" Emily and Ash asked at the same time.

"He did and the answer is still no. Not on a school night," I said firmly, sticking to my decision.

"We won't die our hair this time!" they said in unison.

"I thought you said you were going to cut it?" Aidan commented as Ash nudged him.

"I guess that means no sleepover and no Saturday. Sucks to be you," I told her, watching as she stomped her foot. When I looked down at her feet, she quickly apologized. I had to admit she was a little spoiled. She wasn't told no often, but when she was, she would always get an attitude. I could feel Edward watching us and I knew the reunion was going to happen very soon.

"Are we still going to go get pizza?" Ash asked with a whine in her voice.

"Yes," I answered, making her smile. "Did you get all your homework done?"

"I did," she said, her smile growing.

"Bye, Lynn," Aidan said as he walked off with his parents. I had such a knot in my stomach. Ash threw the trash in the garbage and I grabbed her ball bag.

"Papa! I did so much better this time," she said as she ran past me to get to my dad.

"You are getting so much better at batting," Dad said, hugging her.

"That's just 'cause Mommy is such a good teacher!" she said with a big smile. Just then, she caught Edward's eye. She stared at him and he gave her a small smile.

"Ash!" I heard Emily yell. "Ash, you have my Chapstick." Emily stopped next to her and looked at a now teary-eyed Ashlynn. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Ashlynn said as Emily glanced between Edward and her best friend. The girls walked over to me and took out the Chapstick.

"Is that your father?" Emily asked.

"I think so," Ashlynn whispered. "That's why you said no about the sleepover and everything, huh?"

"Yeah," I said, clearing my throat. "I told you he would come back."

"My throat hurts; I think I'm going to cry. Can I hug him?" Ashlynn asked as tears started to fall from her eyes. All I could do was nod my head. As soon as Ash started to cry, so did Emily; they hated to see each other cry. I had a couple tears fall when she went over to Edward and hugged him around his waist. I heard her sob into his shirt and his tears quickly followed.

"Come on, I'll walk you back to your car," I said as Em hugged herself to me.

"This is a good thing, right?" Emmie asked as we headed away from the family reunion.

"Yeah, no worries," I said, giving her a smile.

"Everything okay?" a worried looking Sam asked when he saw Emily crying.

"Yeah," I said, looking over my shoulder and watching as Edward held Ashlynn.

"Is that…"

"Yeah."

"Wow! Did you know?" he asked as I shook my head no. I couldn't hold off the tears anymore and the floodgates opened. Sam was quick to get out of the car and hug me tight, shielding me from everyone.

"Buckle up and call your mom. See if she's meeting us," Sam said quickly as Emily got into the car. "I'm not stupid. I went along with your little story because I knew something was up, but now you have to tell me the truth."

"Sam, not here—not now," I said as I tried to calm myself down.

"She's not your daughter, is she?"

"She is in every way that it matters," I answered.

"Is he taking her away?"

"I…I don't think so," I said as more tears flooded my eyes and spilled over.

"Prison?" he asked as I nodded. "Is he safe to be around?" Again I nodded my head. "You swear?"

"I swear," I said, taking a deep breath. "He got involved with the wrong crowd. He's a good guy, though."

"I trust you, B."

"I know."

"Mom's on her way there," Emily said, breaking up our conversation.

"Wipe your face," he said. I did, and then hocked a loogie, which made Sam laugh. "Classy."

"That's why you love me," I said as Edward glared at me from my car three spaces down.

"Call me tomorrow," he said as he got back in his car. I went and unlocked my car, noticing my dad motioning me over to him. I put Ashlynn's bag in the trunk and headed to my parents.

* * *

See you in a few days!


	6. Chapter 6

Here is the next chapter. Thank you for all the reviews. There will be a few epov coming, just so you know. Thanks to Sally for doing the beta leg work and thanks to Kasi and Nikki for reading and re-reading the chapters as I wrote it!

* * *

"You going to be okay?" Charlie asked me. I took a deep breath and calmed myself even more. I knew I didn't want Ashlynn to see me so upset. My emotions were in overdrive and I didn't know how to control them at the moment.

"Yeah, I'll call you later."

"What are you going to do?" Mom asked.

"Our life isn't going to stop because he is here. We are going to get pizza, and Ash will get off the bus tomorrow at your house unless I pick her up. He needs to see that the world didn't stop because he was away," I said as my dad smiled.

"That's my girl. We'll talk later," he said as I walked away.

When I neared the car, I saw the two of them sitting inside talking. Ashlynn had the biggest smile on her face and Edward was turned sideways in the front seat so he could talk with her. I felt like the third wheel. I took a deep breath and finished making my way to the car.

"Pizza?" I asked, turning to my daughter.

"I'm so hungry. Grandma didn't have any fruit so I didn't get to eat," she said with a huff.

"Did she have granola bars?"

"Yeah, but not the crunchy ones," she complained.

"You need to eat something on game nights," I scolded as she huffed.

"I had a big lunch," she said as Edward chuckled.

"Listen to your mother," he told her, making me smile. Maybe this was going to work.

Ashlynn talked more than normal all through dinner and the entire way home. We stopped off at Walmart to get Edward a change of clothes and some personal items. When Ashlynn asked where his stuff was, he told her his luggage was lost. I elbowed him and he backed peddled.

"I just wanted to get home so badly that I left all my stuff; no big deal," he said. It was still a lie, but it wasn't so extravagant.

Once we were home, Ashlynn jumped into the shower to get ready for bed. I went to the kitchen and cracked open a beer. I needed one. I went to my room to find Edward putting his stuff away. I changed for bed and went and plopped down on the couch. Ashlynn came into the living room, and sat with me as we watched an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Edward soon joined us. I noticed he was still wearing his boots, and I kind of felt bad.

"You can take your boots off," I said, looking at him.

"You don't want me to," he said as I laughed. "She's sleeping."

"Yeah, this is her on game nights," I said as I ran my finger down her face.

"Thank you, Bella."

"Yeah," I said, looking back at the TV. I knew the two of us needed to talk, so I slowly stood and picked Ashlynn up to carry her to her room.

"I'll take her," he said quickly, taking her from my arms. He headed for her room and we both gave her a kiss good night before we made it back to the living room. "Do you care if I take a shower?"

"No, you don't have to ask," I said as he stood and fidgeted.

"If you don't want me here, I get it, but I'm not going away," he said.

"I don't know you. Just give me some time," I said as he nodded.

"If it counts, you know more about me than anyone. It's easy to be here. I feel at home, so if I overstep, just tell me," he said as I nodded. I stood and headed for the kitchen as he made his way to my shower. I grabbed my bag and made my way to my room; this was my nightly thing. I texted with my dad for a few minutes, and then sat on my bed to grade papers. Edward was in the bathroom for a good hour, and I was halfway done with the work I had to do by the time he came out.

"Sorry that took so long, but that was the best shower I have had in…"

"Seven years?" I asked as he chuckled. "Edward, for now this is your home. I'm not a very welcoming person, though. I'm not the person you met seven years ago."

"Is your boyfriend going to mind that I'm here?"

"I don't have a boyfriend," I said, looking up to him.

"Oh...the guy at the game?"

"That's Sam, Emily's dad. He's married to his high school sweetheart. We all graduated together," I said. See, I could open up.

"Lynny called him 'Dad.' Is that…something she always does?" he asked, looking heartbroken.

"Yeah, and she calls Leah 'Mom,' but Em calls me 'Mom,' as well," I said as he nodded. "I'm sure they will call you Dad soon enough." He smiled a little at that.

"Um…do you have anyone?"

"No," I said in a snippy tone and went back to my work. I could hear him walking around my room, and I glanced up to him to see him looking at a picture of Ash and me. "Blue tote in the closet." He looked at me confused, but went to the closet anyway. I watched as he opened it and then sat on the floor. The tote was filled with Ashlynn's life. I knew it would take him a while to get through everything, so I went back to doing my grading. Before I knew it, it was ten-thirty and I was beat. I packed up my school bag, set my alarm clock, and lay down. I stared at the back of Edward's head until I fell asleep.

~RA~

I woke the next morning feeling perfectly warm, and I opened my eyes to see an arm thrown over my middle. I was shocked that he'd slept in my bed. I know he said he felt at home, but I didn't think he would sleep in my bed. Then again, I was a horrible hostess and didn't get him a blanket or pillow, or tell him he couldn't sleep in my bed. I laid there and thought about it all for a good fifteen minutes.

It was Friday, and I was ready to get the week over with. Every Friday was dress-down day, so I grabbed a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt. I was glad that I didn't wake him up as I moved about the room. He looked so peaceful. I quickly jumped in the shower and got myself ready before going to wake up Ashlynn. I was happy to see her awake and getting dressed when I entered her room.

"Morning, Mommy," she said with a big smile.

"I love and hate that you are a morning person," I said as she giggled.

"Is Daddy still here?"

"He is, but he's sleeping, so we shouldn't wake him."

"Okay, but he will be here when we get back right?"

"Yes," I said as she smiled more. "I'm going to go make breakfast."

I went downstairs and made two bowls of cereal. Ashlynn skipped into the kitchen looking cute as hell. She was such a little fashionista. She had on a pair of fitted jeans and a gray, long sleeved shirt with a pink shirt over it. I helped her brush her hair, and she told me that she needed a haircut. She really did, but I loved her hair long. As I made sure we had everything we needed, she wrote Edward a note on the whiteboard, saying that she would be back later. When I pulled up to my parent's house, I saw that we had a minute or two to talk.

"How are you feeling about Daddy being back?" I asked as she smiled.

"I really didn't think he was coming back. I'm so happy that I'm going to have both of my parents in one house. How does it feel to have your boyfriend back?" she asked me as I chuckled.

"I'm glad you're so happy," I said, leaning into to give her a kiss.

"Do you have study hall after school?"

"No."

"Will you pick me up?"

"Sure, I can do that. Tell Grandma," I said as she hugged me around the neck before she got out. I was pretty sure we were going to be okay.

* * *

There you go! There will be more talking between Edward and Bella to come. See you in a few days!


	7. Chapter 7

My day went by quickly, and while my students were taking a test, I made a weekend shopping list. I added everything Edward would need, and made a list of groceries I would need to get, as well. With Ash going with Aidan the next day, I knew we would have most of the day to get things done. My mind wandered all day, and I couldn't concentrate on anything. The end of the day was very welcomed.

I headed to Ashlynn's school, and by the time I got there, she was bouncing on her heels waiting for me. Once we got into the car, she started talking up a storm.

"So, Sam said Emily can't come over and I really want her to," she said as I quickly looked at her.

"He said no?"

"Yeah, isn't that weird?" she asked as I pursed my lips.

"Yeah, I'll talk to him," I said as I drove. As soon as I pulled into our driveway, Ash was out of the car. I took my cell out of my pocket to call Sam; I had a feeling as to why he said no.

"Hey, B, what's up?" he asked on the second ring.

"Nothing with me, how about you?" I asked.

"Nothing new here."

"Hmm…so, I heard you said no about having Emily come over. I couldn't believe it, so I had to call and hear it for myself."

"I'm sorry," he said sadly. "I can't let Emily over there until I know what he was in jail for," he said as I sighed.

"If I tell you, I want it to stay between you and me. I don't want the whole town knowing."

"You know me better than that," he said in a clipped tone. It wasn't often that Sam was in a snippy mood. I knew he was serious about all this, and he did have a right to know, I just didn't want people to judge Edward.

"Fine. He spent the last seven year in jail because he may have helped rob a bank or two…or five, but he was forced to do it. If he hadn't, the main guy would have killed him and Ash," I said in Edward's defense.

"He only got seven years? I thought bank robbers usually got fifteen to twenty?" he asked.

"They never found any money in Edward's possession. All they had on him was a fingerprint," I said as he hummed.

"Would you leave Ashlynn alone with him?"

"Yes. He raised her for the first two years of her life. He's a great father. Look, I don't really want to talk about that because I have no legal right to Ash now that he's back. He could leave tomorrow with her and there is nothing I would be able to do about it. When he left me with her, I didn't know what the fuck to do, but I think I managed pretty well. If he takes her and leaves…"

"Bella, I get. I understand."

"Look, Ashlynn just wants her best friend to meet her Daddy," I said with a sigh.

"What are you doing for dinner? I think I would feel better if I talked with him myself," he said. As a parent, I understood.

"I haven't thought that far ahead," I said with a laugh. "I know I don't want pizza."

"Agree. I could go grab some KFC?"

"Sounds great. I'll pay half when you get here," I said just before he hung up the phone. I took a minute to get myself together before I walked into the house. Every time I thought of Edward taking Ash away, I knew my tears would follow closely behind. I had to talk with him, and I knew it needed to be soon.

"…then Mrs. Webber said I was amazing!" I heard Ashlynn say to Edward when I walked in.

"That's awesome," Edward said with just as much excitement.

"Thanks for the help, Kid," I huffed as I set both of our bags down.

"Sorry, Mom," she said, taking a bite of her apple.

"Uh…" I said, looking around the house. "You cleaned?"

"Yeah, I was bored," Edward said.

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

"Not a problem, Bella."

"When you're done, go pick up your room," I told Ashlynn, who threw herself on the floor. This was her thing when I told her to clean her room.

"Ah…what are you doing?" Edward asked, looking down at our daughter who was lying on the floor.

"Cleaning is boring, and if I do it wrong, Mommy makes more of a mess," she said as Edward chuckled.

"You need to do as your mother asked."

"But, Daddy! I had such a long day, and I'm so tired," she said with a long sigh, still lying on the floor.

"Okay, Sweetie, that's fine," I said as I picked up my cell. Edward looked at me like I was crazy. "Hey, Sam. Don't worry about bringing Emmie over; Ashlynn is too tired."

"Fine! I'm going," Ash said as she jumped up off the floor.

"I'm checking under your bed and in your closet!" I yelled as she stomped up the stairs.

"That was very uncalled for," Edward said as I headed for my room.

"That's what she has done all her life," I said, lying on my bed for a minute.

"Well, that is going to stop unless she wants to spend a weekend in her room," he said as I smiled.

"You do that," I said, knowing the tantrum she would throw. "We are having people over for dinner."

"Okay," he said. "Do you need me to do anything?"

"Nope, just be pleasant and chat it up with Sam," I said before closing my eyes.

"He wants to check me out?" he asked as I hummed in response. "Long day?" he questioned as I felt the bed dip.

"Yeah. When Ashlynn leaves tomorrow, I figured we can go shopping…if you want to," I told him, making him chuckle.

"That sounds like fun," he said. "It could be our first date."

"Sure," I said as I felt his breath on my face. I opened my eyes to find his face right next to mine. "Whatcha doing?"

"I was thinking about kissing you," he said as I smiled. "Don't think a day has gone by that I didn't think of our night together. That night was the best I have ever had, and I hope we still share the connection we had back then," he said as I rolled my eyes at his gushy words. I wasn't good with the lovey-dovey stuff, so I just lifted my head to his. His lips were just as soft as I remembered. The only difference was that he didn't taste like smoke. He placed his hand on the side of my face, and I smiled as he deepened the kiss. He wasn't alone with the way he felt about the night we shared. I knew we had a connection. I was glad it wasn't just me, though.

"Ew…" Ashlynn said as I flew out of bed. "That is just as gross when Sam and Leah do that."

"Oh, hush," I said fixing my shirt. "Are you done?"

"Yes."

"Done to my standards?"

"Yes, Dad will you come check?" she asked, looking past me.

"Sure," he said heading to the door. I followed them up the stairs and Ashlynn huffed. They walked into her room and I stood in the doorway. My daughter's largest flaw was that she truly hated to clean. I saw clothes sticking out of her drawers, dirty socks under her bed, and her bed wasn't even made. I watched as Edward walked around with his hands on his hips.

"Do you think this room is clean?" he asked her.

"Yes," she said confidently.

"Hmm," he said. "Do you always give your mom a hard time about cleaning?"

"Sometimes."

"When you see things wrong, what do you do?" he asked me.

"In this situation, I would just list what I see," I said as he nodded his head for me to continue.

"Well, I see stuff under the bed from here, your stuffed animals are all over the place, your bed isn't made, there are clothes hanging out of the dresser, and the top of it is a mess. Same goes for your desk. The rug needs to be vacuumed, as well," I said as Ash gave me her space cadet look.

"I can't get all that done before Emily gets here," she said with a whine in her voice.

"I will help you if you don't whine," he said to her.

"For real? Mommy never helps me," she said.

"I will this one time, but once I show you how I like it, I don't want to see it all messed up again," he said as I chuckled. It seemed to me that he was more anal about cleaning than I was.

"Are you going to help too, Mommy?" she asked all too sweetly.

"Nope, I had a long day and I'm tired," I said as I headed for the stairs.

* * *

My daughter is nine and she hates to clean. She has thrown herself on the floor more than once and told me how boring it was. My good kid is my six year old, she knows how to clean.

I will update again later in the week.


	8. Chapter 8

A little while later, when Sam and his family showed up, Edward and Ashlynn were still cleaning her room.

"Where's Ashlynn?" Emily asked as Leah and I pulled out the food.

"She's cleaning her room," I said as Emily made a funny face.

"I'll wait here then," she said as I laughed.

"Got any beer?" Sam asked.

"Always. There's orange soda for the girls to have with dinner, too," I said as Leah grabbed the plates.

"So, I can't hear Ash throwing a fit," Leah stated as we made the girls their plates.

"Edward's helping her. She probably won't be happy with him when they're done. He's worse than I am," I said as Sam busted up laughing. "I'll go get them."

I made my way up the stairs and I was happy to hear no crying. I walked to the doorway and I saw Ash on her belly with half her body under her bed.

"So, how's it going?" I asked when Edward saw me in the doorway.

"This room is disgusting," he said as I agreed. "It will never look this way again."

"It's your job then," I said, knowing I wasn't going to argue with her over it. One of the many things I learned was how to pick my battles when it came to Ashlynn.

"No sleepover tonight," he told me as I nodded.

"They're here with dinner," I explained.

"We'll be right down," he said as I smiled. I really liked this teamwork thing.

"I'm sorry, Kiddo, but there won't be a sleepover tonight," I said to Emily.

"Tomorrow?" she asked hopeful.

"We'll see," I told her as she ate her food. A few minutes later, a tired looking Ashlynn graced us with her presence, followed by her father.

"Sam, Leah, Emily, this is Edward," I introduced with a mouthful of chicken.

"Nice to meet you," Leah said as Sam shook his head in disgust because of me talking with food in my mouth.

Conversation flowed so easily between us. Sam and Edward seemed to be hitting it off well, and I was so happy. The last thing I wanted was for the two of them to not like one another. I didn't want anything to happen with the girls and their friendship. I would do anything to get the men to like one another if I had to, but it didn't seem necessary. While the adults were visiting in the kitchen, I heard the girls talking in the living room. I put my finger to my lips so Sam would stop talking. He was worse than a chick sometimes.

"My Dad is so mean," Ashlynn said as Edward's face fell.

"Why? Does he yell a lot?" Emily asked her.

"No, but he won't let you stay over tonight because he says my room is gross," Ash said as I chuckled.

"Mom said I might be able to stay tomorrow if you clean it," Em said as Leah chuckled.

"But cleaning is so boring."

"So? At least your mom and dad don't empty your drawers if any clothes are sticking out, or empty your whole closet! Then after they empty everything, they make me fold it all and put it back," Emmie said as Leah chuckled.

"True; I would die if they did that," Ashlynn said as Edward and I smiled at each other. "Oh! I saw my parents kissing!"

"Ew! That is so gross. I don't know why they have to do that. Was it gross when Aidan kissed you?" Emily asked as all of our eyes grew large.

"YES!" Ashlynn yelled. "His lips were all wet with spit! I told him if he did again, I would kick him," she said as I busted out laughing.

"That's my girl," Edward said. "I told you I didn't like that boy."

"No worries, that statement will all change in five years," Leah said as Edward groaned.

The night couldn't have gone any better. I had to laugh when Sam and Leah took off early so Edward and Ash could finish her room. As soon as Edward said 'lets finish this,' she threw herself onto the couch and claimed that she was tired. I'm sure she was, but I loved that she was giving him as hard a time as she always gave me. I'm sure I would have felt like I was doing something wrong if she didn't.

"Keep stomping your feet and you won't do anything this weekend," he said calmly as they climbed the stairs. I was shocked that she actually stopped. It only took me a few minutes to clean up the kitchen, and when I was done, I headed up the stairs to help because I knew she was tired. I grabbed the vacuum and a plastic bag before I headed up, and when I reached her room, I saw that her once empty laundry basket was now half full. I knew under her bed was bad, but we had been too busy to really clean it.

"What are you doing?" Edward asked when I started picking up garbage.

"I'm helping," I said, looking up to him.

"She's not going to learn if she doesn't do it herself," he said in a snippy tone.

"It's getting late, and at the rate she's going, she is never going to finish," I said, trying not to argue, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't.

"Hmm…it's nice to know what kind of father you think I am," he said as I looked up at him. "Go downstairs, I can handle this." I glared at him as Ashlynn asked if she was done. Edward said she was for the night, so I gave her a hug and a kiss before heading to the living room with Edward hot on my heels.

"I'm sorry," I said as I plopped down on the couch.

"Do you really think I would make her stay up tonight and clean her room?" All I did was shrug. "I told her to finish what she was doing and then she could go to bed, but there wasn't going to be any sleepovers this weekend."

"What about her play date tomorrow?" I asked quickly.

"That she can do because Sam was telling me that you have to get advanced tickets. Plus, her going benefits us," he said as I smiled but rolled my eyes. "You are not helping, either. She is doing it herself."

"Fine, I was just going to help tonight because it was so late. Like I said, I don't know you, and she's your daughter. All I am is the babysitter," I said as he huffed and walked over to the couch. "We need to tell her the truth."

"Did you call yourself the babysitter?"

"What else am I? Edward, you left with her me and begged me to watch her. Now you're back, so I'm not needed. I get it. I have no legal binding to her or anything. It's fine…"

"That is not fine. Bella you are her mother! I've been here a full day, and already I can see you are the best mother. Do you want legal ties to her? Would that make you feel better?"

"Yes," I whispered. "But how is that going to work when her birth certificate has your alias on it?"

"It says Edward Anthony now," he said as I narrowed my eyes. "Don't give me that look. I did what I had to, to protect that little girl and you."

"I don't even want to know. Everything you said just sounds so illegal."

"And you think you know a lot about me. Some things are better left unsaid," he snapped. I couldn't help but agree.

"How did you do what you did to my bank account?"

"I can't recall," he said with an all-knowing smirk.

"Whatever," I replied with an eye roll.

"I'm not a bad guy," he said quietly.

"I know," I admitted just as quietly.

"I want to be with you. I have wanted to be with you since the first day I met you. I'm not going anywhere and I'm not taking her away," he said, putting his arm around the back of the couch.

"What if we don't work out? What if we hate each other?"

"I can't speak for you, but I would do what is best for Lynny. I would stay or go wherever the two of you went," he said as I nodded.

"So you want to try this?" I asked, waving my hand between the two of us.

"Yeah, I was just going to do it anyway and show you what a great guy I was," he said as I laughed.

"How were you going to do it, anyway?"

"I've never been one to give away all my secrets," he said as we both laughed.

We sat up for hours, talking about everything that mattered. He shared stories about Ashlynn's first two years, and I shared many with him about the last seven. We both seemed to want the same things. With him being thirty and I being twenty-eight, we knew we wanted to give us a try. I said I was too old to start a relationship, and he asked why I wanted to try with him. I had to try for my daughter; it was as simple as that. Plus, I felt like I had waited the last seven years for him. I held myself back for him. I knew it wasn't fair to me and that he never asked me to, but there was something holding me back, and I felt I owed it to myself to find out why.

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So I'm going to visit some family so there will be NO updates next week, but I will give you one more tomorrow!


	9. Chapter 9

The next day was pretty awesome. Ashlynn woke me up by crawling into bed next to me. I had to laugh when she started whispering. Like I said before, she was very much a morning person.

"Mommy?" she whispered.

"What?" I asked with a yawn.

"Daddy's on my side." I couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, I'll make sure he sleeps on the couch from now on," I said as she smiled.

"Thank you," she said as she snuggled into me. I was pretty sure she was serious. I lifted my head to see that it was after nine, and Ashlynn was going to be leaving within the next hour.

"Go get in the shower and get ready to go, and I'll make breakfast." She jumped out of my bed and I snuggled into my pillow. I wasn't ready to get up yet. I smiled when Edward snuggled up to my back, throwing his arm around me.

"Does she climb into bed with you often?" he asked in a very sleepy, sexy voice.

"Only on the weekends and during thunderstorms," I said as he kissed the back of my head.

"Sucks that I won't be sleeping on the couch." I couldn't help laughing at him. We cuddled until Ashlynn came back into our room, looking for her breakfast.

"Daddy, you are sleeping on my side," she said as she sat on the bed.

"Where do I sleep then?" he asked as I hid my face.

"Mommy said you have to sleep on the couch on the weekends," she said confidently.

"Sorry, Kid, I guess you will just have to deal with me," he said as I laughed. I laughed even harder when she crossed her arms and pouted.

Once we got up and moving, the morning went quickly. Before I knew it, Ashlynn was gone with Aiden, and Edward and I were off to do some shopping. After the first store, he seemed to loosen up, but he still seemed almost leery of trying clothes on—like it was a trick or something. A few hundred dollars later, he said he'd had enough of shopping. He had jeans, T-shirts, socks, underwear, under shirts, a couple of hoodies, and two pairs of sneakers. I even bought Ashlynn and myself some stuff. Edward was appalled by the clothing selection for little girls. He hated that the shorts were really short, and the same went for the skirts.

"Lynny doesn't have any of these clothes, does she?" he asked as I picked out a pair of jeans for her.

"No, not really."

"Not really?"

"It's hard to find shorts to fit her because she is so tall," I said as he hummed.

"I'm hungry," he said as I agreed. "Do you want pizza?"

"Yeah, that's fine," I said as we made our way to the cash register. When we were done, he headed for the food court and got a slice of pizza. I wasn't a huge fan of pizza, but Ashlynn, and apparently Edward, loved it.

"Are we done?" he asked as he finished eating.

"Do you want to be done?"

"Yeah," he said with a sigh.

"Okay, we'll head home and I'll drop you off. I still have to go food shopping, so you can just wait for Ash there," I said as he nodded. "What kind of food do you like?"

"Do you cook?"

"Yes," I said with a laugh. "I cook most nights."

"I'll eat whatever you cook."

"Fair enough," I said.

We headed back to the house and I dropped him off with all the stuff before I headed for the store. I loved shopping alone. Sometimes it was the only alone time I got. While I was shopping I thought about the money in the bank. I knew I needed to share it with Edward, but I didn't really trust him enough to put his name on my account yet. It would also assure me that he wouldn't take off. After debating my whole shopping trip, I stopped off at the ATM and grabbed a hundred dollars for him so he could buy whatever he wanted.

As I drove home, I passed the AT&T store and decided to stop. We didn't have a house phone, so a cell phone was probably something Edward could probably use. It only took a little while to get him added to my plan. After leaving the phone store, I told myself that I wasn't making any more stops, but, I did end up stopping again. As I drove down my street, I saw Mr. Newton putting a for sale sign on the car they had bought just six month prior. It was an Audi, and I knew those were pricy, but I stopped to check it out anyway.

"Hey, Bella, how's it going?" he asked as I approached him.

"It's going good. Why are you selling?" I asked, pointing to the car.

"The old lady wants something with less power," he said with a chuckle.

"How much?"

"Three grand," he said with a sigh.

"Does it need any work?"

"No, I bought it outright for five, but the dealership was only going to give me a grand for it. It's a 2000, so it's kind of old," he said as I nodded my head.

"I think I may want it. Would you hold it for a couple of days for me?"

"Sure, is there something wrong with yours?"

"No, my daughter's father and I are trying again, and he's going to need a car," I said as he smiled.

"Sure, it will be no problem," he answered, taking the for sale sign off the car. "If you can let me know by the end of the week, that would be great."

"No problem, Mr. Newton. Have great rest of the weekend," I said as I headed back to my car.

This time I was able to make it all the way home. I grabbed as many bags as I could and headed for the house. I walked in and it was so quiet and my heart stopped. I dropped the bags and ran up the stairs, flinging open Ashlynn's bedroom door. I was happy to see Edward and Ash both jump in fright.

"Hey…are you okay?" Edward asked as Ashlynn held her chest.

"You scared me, Mommy."

"Sorry," I said, trying to clear the lump in my throat. "I'm fine. The room looks great…Um…I've gotta…" I turned and left her room quickly. I knew I was going to cry, and I didn't want either of them to see it. I reached the front door as my tears started to fall, but I ignored them and picked up my bags before heading to the kitchen. I put the bags on the floor and then went back out to my car, wiping my fallen tears off my face as I grabbed the rest of the bags.

Once I got back to the kitchen, I felt better. I started to put the food away when I felt arms wrap around my waist. I jumped because I was lost in thought and it startled me, but quickly relaxed. Edward held me as more tears came and I covered my face with my hands. He didn't say anything right away; he just let me cry.

"Bella, I'm not going to take her and leave, I swear. Please believe me," he said right in my ear as he kissed my temple.

"I'm sorry," I said with a sniffle.

"Don't be sorry, it's okay, but you need to know I won't take her away from you," he promised, holding me close to his body.

"Okay," I said as I forced myself to stop crying. I wiped my face off on my shirt and took a deep breath. "Um…yeah," I said, shaking off the last of my tears. "I got you something."

"Bella, you have gotten me plenty for one day," he said as I shrugged. I grabbed the box with his phone in it and tossed it to him.

"Also I stopped and talked to Mr. Newton down the street. His wife is a nasty bitch and nothing is ever good enough for her, so they are selling a car they just bought six months ago. If you want to go look at, it we can. Mr. Newton is holding it until you decide. Oh, and this is for you, too," I said, handing him the money envelope from the bank.

"Why are you doing this?"

"You're welcome?"

"Don't be like that," he said, shaking his head at me. "I appreciate all that you are doing for me, but come on!"

"Come on what?"

"Never mind," he said, looking at the money and phone. "Thanks for everything." With that, he left, leaving the money and phone on the counter. Talk about making a girl feel good.

I let myself fume for a few minutes, but I kept busy as I did so. I put everything away and started dinner. By the time it was done, Ashlynn and Edward had finished with her room. My mouth dropped when they brought down three garbage bags and an overflowing laundry basket.

"Really?" I asked, knowing her room was not that dirty.

"He made me go through my clothes," Ash said, hugging herself to me. "I'm never going to let my room get dirty again, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," I said, kissing the top of her head. "I made steak."

"Awesome! I'm so hungry," she said as she went to wash her hands. Edward didn't even look at me as he took care of everything they brought down. He was getting on my last nerve…

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Okay this leaves you hanging a little bit. I wasn't going to post again till the 25th, but I may update the next one in a little while….


	10. Chapter 10

I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks to my girls for all the help!

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We all sat and ate dinner. Edward and I didn't even look at each other, but Ashlynn told me about her day, and I smiled at hearing how great it was. I could tell she knew Edward and I were fighting because she asked if she could play on the computer when dinner was over. She loved playing games on my Facebook account. She wanted her own really badly, but I wouldn't allow it. Edward went into the living room, and because of the foul mood he had put me in, I started to clean.

"Mom's in a bad mood," Ashlynn said, thinking I couldn't hear her.

"I know, Sweetie," Edward replied.

"Did I do something?" she asked as I sighed. "She always cleans when she's mad."

"No, she's mad at me."

"Why?"

"Adult stuff," he told her as I rolled my eyes.

"Oh…how was school?" she asked.

"Long…sorry I was gone so long," he said as I stood in the doorway of the laundry room so I could hear better.

"It's okay. I never want to go to college," she said as I heard him sigh.

"College is a good thing. You learn a lot and it helps you get a career."

"I'm just going to be a teacher like Mommy. She learned everything on the computer and didn't have to leave me," she said.

"I see," he commented. I stuck my head out the door to see them sitting on the couch with his arm around her. "You know when Papa goes to work to make sure that no one is doing bad things?" he asked as she giggled.

"Yeah; he puts the bad guys in jail," she said. "Papa is going to teach me how to shoot a gun just like he taught Mom."

"Huh," he said as I hid my laugh. "I wasn't in school these last few years." My eyes grew wide; I didn't think he was ever going to tell her.

"Where were you?"

"In jail," he said as I stood there frozen.

"But you're not a bad guy, you're my dad," she said as she looked up at him.

"I'm not a bad guy; I just did a bad thing. You are too little to understand, but I wanted you to know the truth. You need to pick your friends wisely, because if you don't, you could go to jail," he said as I shook my head. I got what he was saying, but now she was going to question all of her friendships.

"Emily and Aiden are my best friends, so that makes them good, right?"

"Yes," he said as I blew out the breath I was holding. "Has anyone ever told you to live and learn?"

"Grandma said that to Mom after I fell off my bike when I was learning how to ride with two wheels," she said as I made my way to the living room. I sat next to Ashlynn and she smiled at me, making my bad mood melt away a little.

"Grandma did do that. And that day you also learned that if you want to be good at something, you have to try really hard," I said as she giggled.

"Yup, and it only took falling once for me to learn that I never wanted to fall again," she said as I laughed.

"As you grow up, it's the same thing. We do things wrong, and then we learn what not to do. Sometimes we even do things we know we shouldn't just to make sure they are really bad. That's all part of growing up," I said as Edward rubbed my shoulder. "As long as you learn and never do it again, that is what matters."

"Your mom is right," Edward said as Ashlynn looked at him. "Also, there is something else I want to tell you. Bella isn't your real mom," he said as she stared at him.

"Are you my real dad?"

"Yes," he said with a chuckle while shaking his head. "Do you want Bella to become your real mom?"

"She is my real mom," she said sadly, laying her head on my chest.

"That I am, Kid," I said as she started to cry. "Anyone can be a mother or father, but it takes special people to be mommies and daddies."

"So you are special?" she asked me.

"I'd like to think I am," I said as she giggled.

"She is the most amazing person I have ever known," Edward said, looking right at me.

"How did you two meet?" she asked.

"At a bar," I said as Ashlynn's eyes grew big.

"Really?" she asked, as if that was the most unfound thing she had ever heard.

"Yes, I saw her and I thought she was the pretties girl in the world, second to you," he said with a smile.

"Where was I?" she asked. I thought that was a really great question.

"You were with an old friend," he said. I knew she could have only been with his sister.

"Oh…so how did you become my mom?" she asked, scrunching up her face.

"When I got in trouble, I knew that Bella could take care of you. Do you remember I told you that you were going to stay with your mom?" he asked as she shook her head no. "Oh…"

"Edward, she was two," I said.

"I know, it's just hard to think that it was seven years ago," he said as I agreed. "Anyway, because I knew I had bad friends, I knew no one could know about you, so I brought you to Bella."

"And you just kept me?"

"I did."

"Because that is what moms do," Edward said.

"Where is my real mom if Bella isn't her?"

"She is in heaven," I said before Edward could answer. "She was sick, but that's okay because she loved you and she brought me to you."

"Okay, but you will always be my mom right?" she asked.

"Yes," Edward and I said together.

"Okay…can I go to Emily's tomorrow or can she come here?" she asked.

"You are in trouble this weekend," Edward said as she slouched into the couch.

"Fine, I'm going to go call her then," she pouted, getting off the couch. "I love you," she said to me before she walked out of the room. I sighed as Edward moved closer to me and put his arm around me.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he said. "This is all just so new."

"I get it. I tend to be pushy sometimes," I said with a shrug. "I thought I was helping."

"You are, but I don't know how to deal with it," he said.

"Just say thank you," I told him as he chuckled.

"That easy?"

"That easy," I replied, turning my head to look at him. "If we are really going to do this, and you are my boyfriend, I tend to take care of people I care about."

"Okay, and thank you for everything. Saying thank you just doesn't seem to be enough, though. Everything that you have done for me…"

"I get it, but what's done is done. Now we just have to move on. All I did anyway was get you things that you needed. You needed clothes, shoes, bathroom stuff, money, and a phone. You need a car, too, because I don't share well," I said as he chuckled.

"We can go tomorrow and look at the car," he said.

"Good."

"Monday I'm going to start looking for a job…where should I start?" he asked me as I smiled.

"I have no clue, but I'm sure my dad would know. You can ask him tomorrow when we go over there," I said as he turned his body to look at me.

"Do you think he would help me?"

"I don't see why not." I was starting to think that he didn't know there were still good people in the world.

We sat on the couch and watched a little TV before we headed for bed. When Ashlynn was done talking to Emily, she sat with us until she fell asleep. Once we got her in bed, we headed to my…our room. I still found it weird that we were together. I had so many questions to ask him, but I just felt like I never found the right time.

Edward was still in the bathroom by the time I crawled into bed. I wondered how the morning was going go when Ash woke up. I couldn't help giggling over the thought of her pout. When Edward came out, I smiled at the shorts he was wearing. It was one of the pair that we had bought. I did want him to feel at home, and it really bothered me that he was questioning my help. In reality, the money I was spending was his anyway. He got into bed and lay on his side facing me. He put his hand on my belly and just stared at me.

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Um…do you think you know what's coming next? See you in a couple days!


	11. Chapter 11

"Staring isn't polite," I said as he chuckled.

"It's not my fault you are so beautiful," he said as I laughed.

"You need to work on your pick up lines," I said as he smiled. I turned to my side and it surprised me that his hand moved to my ass.

"Is it weird that I don't even remember how I approached you?" he asked.

"You sat next me and said 'you are the only beautiful girl in this bar.'," I told him as we laughed.

"Well, if that is the line I keep using, it must be true," he said as he leaned in and kissed me. I loved kissing him. I felt like we didn't kiss often enough.

When he pushed against my ass to get me to move closer, I complied. Then I put my hand on the side of his face as we deepened the kiss. Our tongues got to know one another as he pushed the blanket off my waist and his hand started to slide under my shirt. My heart started to race because I knew what was coming. I had slept with him before, but that was in a fit of half drunken passion. This time was different; we have declared ourselves a couple. Were we going to make love, or were we going to fuck? One of my bad traits was over thinking things, and I was majorly over thinking the sex in my near future. As soon as his fingers reached my nipples, though, my body broke out in cold chills and I was ready to go.

It had been seven years since I had been touched by a man. It had been seven year since I had someone inside of me. It had been seven years since I had been with him. I've been told I'm uptight, and maybe the lack of sex in my life was the cause. I guess I was about to find out because his hand was moving from my breasts to my waist and his lips had moved to my neck. He really didn't need to bother with foreplay — I had been ready, willing, and able since he kissed me his second day here.

He pushed the band of my shorts down and I lifted my hips to help him take them off. I don't know if he thought he was going to have to work at me or what, but he stopped everything as soon as my hips lifted from the mattress.

"You want this?" he asked, sounding husky.

"I haven't had sex in years. Yes I want this," I said as he slowly moved his hand back up my stomach.

"Do we need a condom?"

"Were you a slut before you went to prison?" I asked as he chuckled.

"No, you were the first since Angela," he said as I shivered, remembering what she looked like. "I got checked after I found out how she was. I was clean."

"Okay. Then no, we don't need a condom," I said as he started to kiss me.

"Wait a minute," he said pulling back and making me groan. "You haven't had sex since me?"

"Does it matter?" I asked as I kissed his neck.

"Why did you wait for me?"

"Why did you do anything you have done?" I asked, suddenly feeling a little pissy.

"Why are you getting mad?"

"Do you really want to talk about this now? I've had my chances to have sex, but I didn't because it didn't feel right. And when I jerked myself off, I thought you," I said as I rolled to my back.

"Well, you really can't jerk yourself off," he said as I flung my head his way so he could see my glare. "Just saying."

"Whatever, you have ruined the moment by talking," I said as I yawned.

"I'm sorry. I just thought you would have been married by now," he said with a sigh.

"Why would I get married when I was raising someone else's child?" I asked as he propped himself up on his elbow.

"I'm sorry for making you put your life on hold. I wasn't thinking of anyone else at the time," he said, casting his eyes down.

"I'm not sorry. If it wasn't for you, I doubt I would have ever had a child. When I moved back home, the first reaction I got was, 'you don't even like kids'," I told him. "I have said all my life that I was never having kids, and if I was around kids, I was always so annoyed. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't know how much I love being a mom."

"Thank you for waiting me," he said as he placed his hand on the side of my face. He turned my head to the side so I would look at him. "You didn't have to wait, but you've made me the happiest man alive because you did."

"Just don't disappoint me and we will be okay," I said as he leaned in and kissed me again. This time, he didn't waste a moment, and we were both naked before our kiss could get heated. He moved over the top of me and I let my hands explore his amazing body. His muscles were so firm and touchable. I was sure I would never be able to keep my hands off of him. When my hands were done molesting his chest and stomach, I moved south until I found what I was looking for. As soon as I wrapped my hand around him, he broke our kiss to watch my hand move up and down his perfect cock.

"I'm not going to last long, but I think if we do it every night for the next two weeks, it will get longer," he said, making me laugh. "It won't take me long to get back into the swing of things."

"I really want you," I said, arching my back and rubbing the head of his cock down my wet folds. He moaned and I could tell he really wanted to push himself into me.

"I dreamt about you every night," he said as he kissed me. "I dreamt about what our life would be like and my dream is coming true. Never, in a million years, did I think that would happen."

"Edward, I feel the same way," I said as we stared at each other. "I missed you like crazy and replay that first night over and over again. I tried to hate you, but I never could. I'm setting myself up for heartbreak, but at this point I can't care for the simple fact that I have waited so long. Please stop talking because I hate talking about my feelings, and I know that if you keep me talking, I will end up pouring my heart out to you and then I will cry and then I will be pissed."

"Okay…okay," he whispered as he kissed me.

He ran his hand down my legs and grabbed them by my knees, bringing them to his waist. He lined himself up with my entrance and he stared at me while he pushed in. My eyes closed and rolled into the back of my head as I came just from the feeling of him. My memory did him no justice. It was better than I remembered. I whimpered and moaned and he pushed and pulled in and out of me. He leaned over me, and just the feel of his breath on my overheated sick was making me want to cum again. His grunts and moans were giving me shiver bumps, and the way my name fell from his lips as his mouth hovered over my ear, pushed me over the edge again. He kissed my neck as his thrusts got faster, and I knew it was going to be over soon. I did my kegels a few times to help him with his release. As he came, his sounds were ragged. His movements slowed and then stopped before he laid his head on my chest.

"That was better than I remembered," he said, kissing each of my breasts.

"Agree," I said as I took a deep breath. He pulled out of me and then plopped himself down on what was now his side of the bed.

"I think I'm falling in love with you," he said, placing his hand on his chest.

"Ditto," I said with a sigh as I sat up to find my clothes.

"Why are you getting dressed?"

"Because our daughter will crawl into bed with us if we aren't up before her," I said as he sighed.

"What if I want more later tonight?"

"Hmmm…just pull my shorts down and lift my leg," I said as he chuckled.

"You're such a romantic."

"I know," I said as I finished redressing.

Once we were decent enough to be around children, we snuggled close to each other, and I fell asleep to the feeling of him playing with my hair.

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Well? I'd love to know what you all are thinking. Thanks for all the reviews this far I love them. If I'm remembering right, the next chapter is in Edward's pov! See you Monday!


	12. Chapter 12

This is going to back track a little and take you a little through Edward's past.

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EPOV

The night I met Bella, Rosalie was babysitting at my place. We all knew our crime binge was coming, and we knew exactly how it was going to end. That night, I needed to get away to clear my head, and Rose didn't want to be home, so she told me to go out. We knew it was going to be the last time for a while. We knew there was no way in hell we were going to get away with robbing banks. Robbing banks was the last thing I wanted to do, but Royce beat my sister in front me until I said yes. It was the worse night of my life. They showed up at my house while Ashlynn was sleeping. Rosalie kept her screams to a minimum, knowing that Lynny was right down the hall. His threats to kill the both of us were terrifying. He knew I would do anything to protect my sister. After I agreed to help him, you would have thought we were best friends. He was an idiot, though. He never once caught on to the fact that I had a kid, and for that I was grateful. I should have been with my daughter that night, but I couldn't walk away from Bella and in reality, it was the best choice I had ever made. I don't know why I ever told her about my baby, but it felt right — I felt like I could trust her. I was glad my feelings were right.

Right before the bank robberies, I thought of contacting my parents, but I knew how disappointed they would be, so I left them to their lives. Once news broke that we had been put in jail, I was shocked that they tried to see me. I couldn't face them, though. I knew they would have cared for Ashlynn, but again the disappointment they would have had was something I didn't want in my life at the time. My life growing up was something I hoped to give my daughter. As an adult now, I knew I had an amazing life back then. I always thought my parents were overbearing, and I wanted to be an adult more than anything, so when I turned eighteen, I left. A year later, Rose followed. At first it was great to be on my own, but when Rose met Royce, it was all over.

Ang was a friend of Rose's, and she was cute when I was in my drunken haze. I remember thinking how cute it was to watch her snort line after line of coke. I never thought in a million years I would have gotten her pregnant. I knew she was doing coke while she was pregnant, but she wouldn't listen to me. I was so happy when Ash was born healthy. Even after Lynny was born, I wanted to keep it a secret. I didn't want anyone Ang knew to know about her because I didn't trust anyone. Everyone she knew would use Ash against her, and after my baby girl was born, all Ang did was get high again and again. I knew she was a lost cause. When Ang died, I was glad that she couldn't hurt herself anymore. I knew no matter what, she was in a better place. The night before Rose and Royce showed up…I was going to call my parents. I should have, but I didn't, and I knew it was over after that. My life was over, and I knew there was a chance I was never going to see my little girl again.

I fucked up during that last robbery and I knew it. My glove got caught and I left some sort of evidence behind. I was going to turn myself in and flip on everyone else. I just couldn't live with knowing what I had done.

When I did turn myself in, I told them everything; I even told them where Royce the retard was hiding his money. They asked me where my money was, but I said I never got any. I told them I was only involved to save my sister. Every time we split the money, I put my share in an offshore account that I had started under the name of an online company. I knew computers inside and out — it's what I wanted to do for a career. I searched Bella and found out as much as I could about her. I made everything as untraceable as I could, and I used seven different names to transfer the money. After I made sure everything went through, I set it up so that the company would go belly up six months later. Like I said, I knew a thing or two about computers.

The day I dropped Lynny off with Bella, I thought my heart was going to be ripped from my chest. It was the worst day of my life. Seeing Bella cry made me cry because I knew I was going away for a few years — if not the rest of my life. I knew she was the best person in the world, and even now, she keeps showing how amazing she really is. Everything she has done for me and is doing for me is more than I would ever ask for. I was honestly shocked by how her parents even helped me. I knew I was pissing Bella off with my reaction to her helping me so much, but I was a little overwhelmed. No one but my parents has ever helped me, and after spending seven years in prison…yeah, my trust level was really low. It took me a week to find Bella, and then another week to get to her. I had no idea what I was going to be walking into. I didn't know if she was married or if she had more kids; I knew nothing.

I waited on her front steps for hours, and many people slowed down and stared while I sat there. When she pulled up and we made eye contact, I didn't know what she was thinking. I was nervous as hell. I would be lying if I said her feistiness didn't turn me on. She was a fiery little thing, and I was very happy to find out she wasn't with anyone.

After seven year of not getting to see my daughter, to have her know who I was, was the best feeling in the entire world. To be able to hug her was the best. Getting to know the big little girl she had become was out of this world. Bella did such a great job with her, and I couldn't have asked for more.

Being with my girls again was something I couldn't describe. Knowing that Bella waited…just blew me away. Not a day went by that I didn't think of them. At night, my dreams were filled with their faces. It was hard to believe that Lynny looked so different now. She was so talented in everything she did. She could sing, play an instrument, and she was amazing at sports. She was getting everything I had ever wanted for her and it was all because of Bella.

Being intimate with Bella put all my wet dreams to shame. I told her I was falling in love with her, but I fell in love with her the moment she took my daughter for me. How could I not love her? Knowing that she felt the same for me was perfection in my eyes. I knew we were going to be together forever, and I wanted to make sure I proved to her every day that I was worthy of her love. I would prove that I was the amazing man she thought I was, and I would prove it to my daughter as well.

We went to Charlie's and Renee's house for dinner on Sunday, and her father said he would talk with a couple of his friends about a job for me. He said he knew I was good man that just got caught in a fucked up situation. I didn't understand why he was giving me a chance. It just didn't make sense to me. They knew all the bad I had done, and yet they still invited me into their home with no questions asked. They talked to me like I was anyone else, and they were getting to know me for me. Charlie already knew a lot about my past because he had searched me out. In my eyes Charlie was a strange man. I waited and waited for him to give me the talk, but it never came. The only thing remotely close to a threat was a warning.

"Ashlynn may be your daughter and I respect that, but she and Bella are my little girls and if you think you can hurt them, you have another thing coming." Message received loud and clear.

I was very lucky that my daughter had Charlie, Renee, and Bella in her life. I couldn't have chosen a better family for her to be with. I was happy to be where I was with my newfound family. It made me wonder about my parents…I needed to check and see how they were doing.

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The next chapter is also in epov so you will get to see more from his view. I hope you liked this update and I will see you in a couple of days!


	13. Chapter 13

EPOV

As the weeks went on, everything just kept getting better and better. I got a job, thanks to Charlie, and it felt so good to get into a routine with my girls. I was working for a construction company that was run out of the next town over. Bella talking me into getting the car was the best idea ever. I was working long hours because they were short on people. I loved working, knowing that I was providing for my family. The three of us were growing closer and closer, and my individual relationships with each of them were growing just as strong. I discovered that Bella loved to ask me questions, but as soon as I fire some her way, she backed down. I didn't understand why she was so guarded. She has told me time and time again that she doesn't like talking about her feelings. I think that's why she does so much for other people. It's her way of saying that she cares. I asked her if I should worry if it stops, and she said yes. I had to laugh, knowing she was completely serious.

The weekends were becoming my favorite time. Softball was done for Lynny, so everything seemed to calm down some. It was a Saturday when I was thrown for a loop. I was lying on the couch while Ashlynn and Emily were coloring at the coffee table. There was some movie on the Disney channel and I couldn't turn away. It was a cute show, but I couldn't tell you what it was called. Bella was in the kitchen making cookies for her father because we were celebrating his birthday the next day. The cookies smelled good, and Ashlynn snuck us each one. She was a sneaky little thing. She said she had to be sneaky or Bella would never let us have any.

"Hey, would you do me a favor?" Bella asked, leaning over the couch. She cocked her head to the side and I shook my head.

"What do you need, Baby?" I asked.

"Well, because all of you have been so good about not bugging for a cookie, I was going to ask if you would run to the store to get more flour so I could make another batch for us, but it seems you all have already had one," she said as the girls whipped their heads around.

"What are you talking about, Mommy?" Ashlynn asked so innocent-like.

"Kid, do you think I'm stupid or blind?" Bella asked.

"Neither," Ash said with a sigh. "You saw me?"

"I did, and the fact that you ran out of the kitchen was another clue," Bella said as I chuckled. "Plus, Daddy has chocolate on the corner of his mouth." She wiped her finger on said chocolate and then wiped it on my shirt. "Nice try, though," she said with a laugh.

"Do you still want me to go get some flour?" I asked as Emily giggled. "What?"

"She's not going to make anymore," Emily told me.

"That's what you get for being sneaky," Bella said with a laugh from the kitchen.

"I told you not to do it," Em said as Lynny rolled her eyes.

"Bet you both a dollar I can get her to make more," I said as they both looked at me.

"You're on! She never gives in," Ashlynn said as Emily agreed. I jumped off the couch and headed for the kitchen. I found Bella sitting on the counter grading papers. I walked over to her and stood between her legs.

"You are not getting another cookie until later," she said, not even looking up from the paper.

"Will you please make more so I could bring some with me to work?" I asked, leaning in to kiss her neck.

"No," she said with a sigh but gave me better access to her neck.

"Mmm…I could kiss you all day long," I said as she sighed again. "You taste better than any cookie I have ever had."

"You are going to make me burn them," she said as she set the paper she was grading down. I kissed and licked her all over her neck, but when she pressed her pussy into me, I pulled away.

"Let me takes these out and then we can go have a quickie," she said as she kissed me.

"No," I said as she huffed.

"Why not?"

"Because you won't make me any cookies."

"You're a dick," she said, pushing me away so she could take the cookies out. "Plus, I already made a double batch, but now I'm just going to take them to work with me on Monday," she said, beating me at my own game. Either I had lost it, or she was just better.

"We can go have a quickie if you'd like," I said as she giggled.

"Nah, I have work to do," she said as she shut off the oven.

"You are so mean, Woman."

"And you think you're so smooth," she said as she hugged me. We were broken apart when the doorbell rang. "That's probably Sam."

"I'll get it!" Ashlynn yelled as I took the towel and wiped flour off of Bella's boobs. When Sam didn't come into the kitchen, I headed for the front room.

"Who are you?" Ash asked as I made it to the front of the house.

"My name is Esme. Is your dad here?"

"Yeah, but he's trying to get my mom to make more cookies."

"Ashlynn, go get your stuff ready to go to Emily's," I said as I stared at my mother and father.

"Okay, did you convince Mom to make more?" she asked, looking up at me.

"I did. See if you can take some to Sam's," I said, running my hand down her hair. "What are you doing here?" I asked, still not believing the fact that my parents were standing in front of me.

"We had to see you," my mom said.

"OH, you little shit!" I heard Bella yell.

"Run, Em!" Lynny said as the two of them came running past me with cookies in their hands. Emily threw one at me as they ran as fast as they could up the stairs.

"Don't run!" I called as Bella came flying around the corner.

"Really?!" she asked, pointing at the cookie.

"I had no idea they were going to do it this time," I said with a laugh.

"You have two kids?" my father asked. I almost forgot they were at the door.

"Um…no. The little girl who answered the door is my daughter."

"Oh," Bella said coming to the door to see who I was talking to.

"This is my girlfriend, Bella. Bella, these are my parents, Carlisle and Esme," I said as she looked between the three of us.

"Oh, um…come in?" Bella asked, looking at me questioningly.

"Yeah, sorry. Come in," I said, stepping aside.

"Girls! Sam's here," I yelled up the stairs. He pulled up just as my father walked through the door. I was glad he didn't come inside. Ashlynn hugged and kissed Bella and I goodbye and she was off for the night.

"Would you like coffee or tea?" Bella asked as I walked back into the kitchen.

"Tea would be nice," Esme said as I stood there awkwardly. "I'm sorry for showing up like this, but we couldn't find a number to just call."

"Well, I know that's a lie," I said with a chuckle. My mother was a master when it came to the computer and finding information out about someone. I had learned a lot from her. She started teaching me about computers as soon as she could and I just learned more with the years.

"It is," Dad said with a chuckle. "We just wanted to see you. Rose finally agreed to see us."

"Oh…I just couldn't. After everything…I just couldn't face you," I said honestly. "And Rose is dead to me. She will never be a part of my life again."

"Please don't say that about you sister," my mom said, shaking her head. "She feels terrible. She told us about Ashlynn and how great you are with her. She said she was happy that you did what you had to do to be with her."

"I don't care. Even when she gets out, I will not welcome her in my life," I said as I saw Bella set a cup of tea in front of my mom.

"Would you like anything?" she asked my dad.

"No, Dear, I'm okay," he said.

"I'm just going to…go," Bella said, trying to get out of the room.

"Please stay," I said, grabbing on to her wrist.

"I don't want to intrude," she explained, looking very uncomfortable. I pulled her gently to the stool next me and was glad when she took a seat.

"Edward, what happened to make you leave? Did we do something wrong?" my father asked. I knew that was something they have always wanted to know.

"You didn't do anything. I thought my life sucked and it didn't. I was very lucky to have you. By the time I needed and wanted to come home, I was too embarrassed," I said.

"You could have come home anytime," Mom said in a pleading tone. "Just so you know Rose is getting out on good behavior."

"Just keep her away from me," I said.

"Edward…"

"What, Bella?" I asked harshly. "Don't you even think of telling me I should give her a chance. This is all her fault!"

"Everyone has choices, Edward, and you made yours," Carlisle said.

"Oh really? I had a fucking choice? Royce beat the hell out her in front of me. Then he said that if I didn't help him with the robberies, he would kill us both. I did what I had to do," I said, raising my voice.

"I was so fucking scared and embarrassed that I turned to a perfect stranger to care for my two year old child because I didn't want to risk Royce finding out about her or the two of you. He would have killed anyone to hurt Rose and me. Rose was so scared of him she said that the two of you were dead! So do not sit here and tell me I have to give her anything!" I yelled as Bella flinched.

"Fine," my mother said sipping her tea. "I won't ask that of you. I thought after all this time you would be able to forgive her. She feels terrible, but never mind that for now. Tell us about Ashlynn."

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Now you have met the parents, what do you think? We will hear from Edward in a couple of more chapters. Can you believe there are only 6 chapters left?

A new story will post a few days after this on is done. My girls on Facebook always get a first look and I'll share it here. If you would like to join my fb group the link in on my profile! See you Monday!


	14. Chapter 14

Ever since Edward's parents showed up, he had been moody as hell. We'd been fighting nonstop, and he was pissing me off with the way he'd been speaking to Ashlynn. The weird part was that I thought the visit with his parents went really well. They stayed for a week and came over every day. I didn't know if he wanted to move closer to them or what, but I knew he had some kind of bug up his ass. He wouldn't talk to me about it, and every time I tried to get him to open up, he would flip out on me.

"I'm in a bad fucking mood because you won't shut the fuck up," he said, snapping at me for asking if he called his mom back.

"I don't know what your problem is, but I don't have to take this bullshit from you," I said back to him.

"What? You want me to leave?"

"If you're going to be an asshole, then hell yes I want you gone. You have been a cocksucker to me, and you have been snapping at our daughter for every little thing she has done!" I yelled at him.

"Fine! If I leave, she leaves…how do you feel about that?" he asked as my eyes filled with tears. He had never threatened to take her away before.

"I just want to know what is wrong with you," I said as I started to cry. "Everything has been so great and now you are never happy."

"Bella…just leave me alone," he said with a defeated sigh.

"Fine," I huffed as I left our room. I went up to Ashlynn's room to find her crying on her bed. Edward had just yelled at her for going too fast on her homework.

"Hey, Kid," I said, sitting on her bed. "Wanna go to the store and then maybe to the park if it's not raining?"

"Yeah. Can I get a candy bar?"

"Sure, get your shoes," I said as I went back to my room to get my purse. Edward was in the shower and I was kind of happy because I was pretty sure he would have had a fit about us going to the store together.

The trip to the store was faster than I thought it was going to be, so we did get to go to the park. We ate our candy while we sat on the bench together. I knew Ash was upset because she didn't take off to play.

"Why is Daddy so mad?" she asked me as I shrugged.

"I don't know," I told her honestly. "Neither one of us did anything wrong, so don't worry about it. Ya know how I get really cranky once in a while and I tell you it's PMS?" I asked as she shook her head yes. "Well, that's what Daddy's problem is."

"Oh, so he will be better in a few days?" she asked as I nodded. He would be or I was going to throat punch him. "Okay, I'm going to go play." I smiled as she ran for the playground. As I sat there and watched, I heard my cell go off with Edward's ring tone. I sighed before answering.

"Why did you leave?" he asked as soon as I answered.

"Because I needed to go to the store and I thought you could use some time to chill," I said as he sighed.

"I don't know what's wrong."

"Figure it out then," I said with a sigh.

"I know you're mad at me, and I'm sorry for being a cocksucker," he said as I giggled. "Rose got out of jail on Monday and called me."

"Oh!" I said as I sat up straight. "You could have told me, Babe."

"I know, but I really don't want her in our lives, and I thought I could forget about her. Babe, I'm sorry. I love you and Ash so much. I am so sorry," he said with another sigh.

"We love you, too. That's why the last couple days have been such a change for us. Oh, and FYI — when you are in a relationship, the other person is there for you to talk to," I said as he chuckled.

"Come home and let's go out to dinner," he said as I sighed.

"Okay, but you have to promise me something," I said as he chuckled.

"Yes, Baby, you can sit on my cock tonight."

"Oh whatever!" I said with a loud laugh.

"I'm serious! This going five days without it is bullshit," he said, making me laugh even more.

"Be serious," I said as he chuckled.

"I'm being very serious," he said with another laugh. "What do you need me to promise?"

"Don't threaten to take her away again. It hurt so bad knowing that you could leave that easily," I said as he blew out a big breath.

"Bella, I'm so sorry. I said that because I knew it would hurt your feelings. I don't make promises I can't keep, and when I get mad I just say shit. I didn't mean it," he said.

"Call me fat! Call me the C word! You can say anything to me — just not that," I said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry I upset you, and I will try to never do it again," he said. I knew that was as good as I was going to get. One of the things I loved about him was that he was honest.

We had yet to come out and say that we loved each other. Every time we said it, we included Ashlynn. I knew one of us was going to have to break the cycle.

I let Ashlynn play for a little while longer while I thought over where I wanted Edward and me to be in the next five years. We really needed to have a talk so we knew where we wanted to be. I needed to know that we weren't just trying to make it because of Ashlynn. I was not one to talk out my feelings, but I got that from my dad. I remembered being little and how my mom would try to get me to talk, but I was more of the 'suffer in silence' type of person. When the rain started, Ash and I raced to the car.

When we made it home, I went to the kitchen while Ashlynn ran to her room. I knew she was trying to keep clear of her father. I heard Edward end his phone call as I started to put the things I bought away. He sighed when I didn't talk right away, but I really didn't know what he wanted form me.

"That was my mom," he said as I hummed. "Rose is living with them; it's part of her parole."

"I see… I don't know what to say," I told him as I leaned against the counter.

"Bella, I hate her, but there is this part of me that wants to forgive her. I don't want her around Lynn or you, but my mother thinks I should just give her one last chance. Maybe I could, I don't know, but I could never be her friend again," he said as I nodded in understanding.

"I really have no desire to meet her," I told him as he chuckled. "I may punch her if I do."

"That right there is why I love you."

"I love you, too," I said as he smiled. "Edward…I'm in no way trying to piss you off, and I'm no good at talking about my feelings, but I need you to hear me out."

"Bella…" he sighed out. "Just say it."

"Okay, I was thinking about our future. I know I really do love you. I love everything about you, even your not-so-nice temper. I love that you are an amazing father to our daughter, and I love that you take care of us. I know we have a lot of time, but I want you to know that I love the person you are. We have so much to talk about, but honestly, I'm not getting any younger. If you want more kids, that is something we need to do in the next two years. You need to tell me if you want to move near your parents. I don't care what you say about it — I know you have missed them. With that said, I need you to know that if you wanted to move, I would leave, too. Um…I think that's it for the moment," I said, taking a deep breath.

"When I met you, I had convinced myself that my life was over. I wanted one more bang before I was locked up. You made me believe that there is still good in people. I fell in love with you when you took Ashlynn seven years ago. I knew that all my feelings about you were right. I wanted to find you and contact you so many times, but I was scared you weren't going to write me back. When I came here, I thought for sure I was going to have to make you listen to me so you would allow me to see my daughter. But you just included me like I had always been here. You're honest and you tell me what you think. That is why I love you. I want it all with you. I would like to get married and have another baby, and I don't care which order we do that in," he said as my eyes teared up. I didn't know what to say. "And I want to stay here."

"Okay," I whispered as I looked at my feet.

"Don't cry," he said with a chuckle.

"Just go talk to Ash…" I said with a sniffle.

"Baby…"

"I'm fine," I said as I saw a few tears drip onto the tiles below me. I heard him walk out of the room and I let my tears fall freely. I was happy and relieved, but this was why I didn't talk about my feelings.

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Okay, I think things are going to be better for them now that they have talked. The next chapter is a time jump and the beginning of the end! See you in a few days!


	15. Chapter 15

The next year was amazingly hard. I was now Ashlynn's mother and there was no greater feeling in the entire would. Although, once the newness of our relationship wore off, things became real. We were both working, and Ashlynn thought she needed to be involved in something at all times! She was a cheerleader in the fall, basketball player in the winter, and she played softball in the spring—all while she was in band and chorus, too. Family time was hard to find, let alone finding adult time.

A couple of weeks ago, I received a phone call from a number I didn't know. Being the nosy person I am, I answered it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hi, is this Bella?"

"Yeah, who's this?" I asked. The person sounded nice enough.

"Please don't hang up and just hear me out," she said.

"Rose?" I asked as she sighed.

"Yes, but please don't hang up. I have something I need to say."

"Yeah, well, I've got some shit to say to you as well," I snapped.

"Perfect! I will tell you what I need to say first, and then you can yell and scream at me all you want," she said as I chuckled.

"Deal, go ahead."

"I'm human and I have made many terrible mistakes. The love I have for my brother and niece is real. I miss them both so much. Mom showed me a picture of Lynn and she is so beautiful. I want to say thank you for taking such great care of her. I understand everything Edward ever did, and I know it was with Ashlynn in mind. I'm not mad or bitter or anything like that. We broke the law and we paid the price. I know Edward never wants to see me or be around me again, and I accept that, but I just wanted you to know my thoughts and to tell you that you seem to be the best mother for Lynn," she said, taking a really deep breath.

"First of all, I hate you for allowing some man to push you the fuck around and to allow him to bring your brother down with him. Second of all, if the day ever comes where Edward allows you to see Ashlynn, you better apologize up and down to her for the rest of your life! You and your idiocy took my daughter's father away for seven fucking years! She went seven years without him! Do I think you deserve another chance? Fuck no! Did you make a mistake? Fuck yes! You, Rosalie Cullen, are a very selfish person!" I yelled, feeling a little better when I was done. I rolled my eyes when I heard her sniffling.

"With that all said, for some reason Edward can't hate you. He said he will never be your friend again, but he doesn't think he could ever hate you. He doesn't like pushy people—I've found that out first hand—so back off," I said a little softer.

"I know and I understand. I just wanted you to know that if I could change everything, I would. I hope that I get to meet you one day and shake your hand for doing what you did for my brother. Thanks for not hanging up. Um…do you think you could keep this phone call between us? You know how my brother is."

"Maybe…" I said trailing off. I really didn't know what I was going to do.

I never did tell Edward that I talked to her. After our conversation, I thought a lot about having another baby, but I just didn't think we had the time to make one…let alone have one. Ashlynn was almost eleven and I was almost thirty. If it was going to happen, it needed to soon. Like I said before, if it wasn't for their childish behavior, who knew if I would have ever had children? Although, Edward and I haven't talked about marriage or kids since we agreed on what we wanted out of the future. We desperately needed some alone time and I was going to make it happen. One of Edward's biggest complaints was that I was too closed off. I tried my best to tell him how I felt, but an eye roll seemed to always be more fitting. He knew I loved him, but I didn't know what he wanted from me.

Anyway, like I said before, I was planning a night for just the two of us. There was no school, so I spent the day cleaning and getting the house looking nice. I took Ash over to Sam's, and I even got in a small visit myself. There just wasn't enough time in the day anymore. I raced back home, made sure dinner was almost done, and then went to took a fast shower. I dressed in a short black sun dress and threw my hair in a ponytail, because that was all I had time for. I made it back to the kitchen just in time for Edward to walk through the door. He walked into the kitchen and sat on one of the bar stools. He placed his chin in the crook of his hand and ran his finger over his lip.

"You look pretty…did I forget something?" he asked, making me laugh.

"No, I just thought we could have dinner, and I would be the girl in this relationship for once. You know, and talk about feelings and such silly things," I said, making him chuckle.

"Good, so that means I get to ask questions and you won't roll your eyes at me?"

"I will answer your questions, but I can't promise there won't be an eye roll here or there."

"Fair enough. First question, before I go and take a shower. Did you talk to Rose?" he asked as I stared at him.

"No," I said, looking to the left like the loser I am. Lying was never a strong suit for me. He stood from his seat and glared at me as he headed for our room. I followed him, hoping to get him to talk to me. "Please don't be mad."

"I'm not mad, I'm fucking livid!" he said, raising his voice.

"Look, I didn't tell you because I knew you would be," I said—that sounded better in my head.

"I didn't want you talking to her and you knew it!"

"I'm your girlfriend, not you daughter, and last time I checked I was an adult!" I yelled as he started to undress. "I only talked to her once, and that was weeks ago."

"I don't care if it was yesterday! Don't talk to her! I do not want her in our lives!" he said to me as if I was stupid.

"FINE!" I yelled as he got into the shower. "I won't talk to her ever again!" Since I was pissed off and our night was ruined, I flushed the toilet on the way out. His string of cuss words made me smile.

Once I was back in the kitchen, I finished with dinner. Our night may have been ruined, but we still needed to eat. I made our plates and set them on the island. I huffed as I sat down and started to pick at my food.

"Okay, this is the last time I'm going to say anything about this. I don't mean to tell you want to do, but when it comes to my girls, I will never allow anything to happen like before. I will never trust Rose again, and I will never want her in our lives. There is no saying she won't go out and attach herself to the first douche bag she meets. I'm not going down that road ever again," he said as I nodded. There was really nothing I could say.

"Eat, it's going to get cold," I finally said as he sighed.

"I didn't mean to ruin our night. You look beautiful, and dinner smells amazing. I love you," he said as I nodded again.

"I love you, too," I replied, looking at my plate. "I was asked to teach summer school. Is that something you want me to do?"

"Not really," he said. I knew if I taught during the summer, it would mean less family time, and I was really missing them. "It's been a busy year, so just enjoy your summer."

"Okay," I said as he sighed. I was sad that the night had been ruined.

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More of their night together from EPOV on Moday. Four more chapters to go!


	16. Chapter 16

Backtracking a little before we get back to their night.

EPOV

* * *

I don't know what to do about my sister. The more I talk to her, the more I hear my old sister—the sister I had before Royce. Rose knows how to fuck with my head. Maybe one day I will be willing to see her again, but I don't think I could do it any time soon. I may have overreacted just a little when she said Bella's name. I wanted to protect my girls. Bella had given our daughter such an amazing life, and I didn't want to add anything too crazy into the mix. We had a nice family dynamic and I wanted to keep it that way. Bella and I were still getting to know one another, and that was another reason I didn't want my crazy family around. It wasn't often I was able to get Bella to open up to me. Some days she drove me so nuts I wanted to rip my hair out. She knew just how to frustrate the hell out of me. The worse part of it all was that my sweet little girl took after her mother.

"Daddy, you know nothing about girls," she had said to me while she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Sometimes girls just need to vent." This all came after Bella stormed off because I didn't understand why she was freaking out over the stupidest thing. It was so stupid that I couldn't even remember what she was having a fit over. I think spending seven years away from women wasn't the best idea for me. Sometimes I was at a loss as to what I should or shouldn't do.

While I was in the shower, I thought about the scene I had walked in on when I got home from work. Bella was dressed in a fuck hot black dress, and I wasn't able to appreciate it because I was too mad at her for talking to Rose. I knew I wanted to get our night back on track.

"Baby…" I said, lifting her chin. "Don't be upset with me. I'm sorry I got so mad. When it comes to you or our daughter, I'm always going to be overprotective."

"I understand," she said. I knew she did understand, even if I had gone all caveman on her. I only say caveman because she said that to me a time or two, and sometimes I just couldn't help myself.

"So, do I still get to ask you anything?"

"No…"

"Come on, tell me everything about the woman I'm in love with," I said, making her laugh just a little bit.

"You know me, Edward. This was a stupid idea," she said, waving me off. I loved what she was trying to do, and I wish I would have just let her do her thing. It wasn't often that she let me see the softer side of her.

"Tell me one thing then," I said as she lifted her head to look at me. "Tell me something no one else knows." Yeah, that got her and she took a breath but didn't say anything.

"Tell me something no one knows," I said again when she didn't talk. Her smile grew even more. This was how I got to know her when we first met, and I would use that 'til the day I died if it meant my girl was going to talk to me.

"I think I'm going to stop taking my birth control," she said as my smile grew. Our year had been so busy that we didn't have any time to talk about such things.

"I won't object to that," I said as she nodded.

"I'm ready…" she said, but she sounded unsure of herself.

"Baby, we don't need any more kids if you don't want to have them," I said to her.

"I want a baby. I've never had it, and I want it with you," she said stronger. "Plus, I already stopped. I haven't taken any this month."

"Okay, then," I said, hopping off the bar stool and getting down on one knee. I had wanted to do this for a while now, but it never felt like the time was quite right.

"What are you doing?!" she asked with a gasp.

"Hush, Woman, and let me have this," I said as her eyes filled with tears. "Eight years ago, I met you and I knew you were special. I knew that you were my one, even if I had to prove my love for you. Only the most amazing person in the world would take care of a stranger's daughter and then take the fuck up back in when the time came. Isabella Swan, thank you for giving our daughter an extraordinary life and for loving me unconditionally. I love you and I will never want anyone the way I want you. Will you marry me?" I asked as she covered her face. I could see her smile reach her ears, and I could hear the happy sob in her voice. There was a difference. I had to chuckle when her sobs were preventing her from answering. I knew the answer, but to hear her say yes was going to make my day.

"Look what you have done to me!" she said with a laugh as she wiped her tears away.

"Eh, I like the theatrics," I said, making her laugh more. "Marry me?" I asked again as I started to push the ring on her finger.

"Yes," she whispered as she watched the ring slide onto her perfect finger. "I love you."

"I love you, Baby," I said as I wiped her cheeks before kissing her lips. I pulled back and smiled at her.

"Let's eat," she said. This was classic Bella; when things got mushy, she pulled away. I was waiting for the most unromantic thing to come out of her mouth. I sat on the bar stool with a smile as I watched her hold her left hand in her right as she looked at the ring.

"Ya know…" she said as I laughed and shook my head. She was going to ruin the romance. "You could have just thrown me the ring box and said, 'here, Bitch—this is for you.'" Yeah, that's why I loved her. "You do know I would have never said no. Plus, I have been waiting for this for, oh I don't know, a year now."

"One day I will turn you into a pile mess of mushy girl who loves the romance of a situation," I said as she got off her bar stool and walked to me with a huff.

"I love the romance. If you didn't notice, I was trying to do it tonight, but you made it perfect," she said as I smiled at her. "You made me cry, though, and you know how I feel about crying."

"I do…but it was worth it."

"If you say so. So…wanna get married in a couple months?" she asked, throwing her arms around my neck.

"Gah! If I have to!"

"Oh my god! I love you!" she said, almost knocking me off the stool as she attacked my mouth. I guess I had to go with the most unromantic lines to get this girl.

* * *

I know this one was short, but I loved it the way it was. Three more to go and this one is all done! Info for the next story has been placed on Facebook, so if you want to know what's coming next there is a link on my profile. See you all Thursday!


	17. Chapter 17

Ashlynn's POV

My mom and dad are getting married and I'm so happy! My family is going to be complete. I have loved helping Mommy get everything ready. Her dress is so pretty! She let me help her pick it out and everything. Grandma even went shopping with us and it was so much fun. I loved talking about the wedding. Mommy wanted me to be the Maid of Honor, and Emily and Leah were going to stand up for her, as well. Poor Daddy realized that he didn't have any friends! He asked Sam to be his Best Man and Sam said yes. This really scary guy named Emmett works with Daddy, and he is going to be in the wedding, too. Well, he's not scary anymore, now that I have gotten to know him. He's just a big kid himself. We arm wrestle a lot, and he even lets me win and then acts like he is sad. It's the funniest thing ever!

Mommy and Papa got into a weird fight over monkey suits, and I had no idea what they were talking about. Anyway, we are all ready for the wedding and I can't wait. I even asked if I was going to get a baby sister out of the deal and Mommy said yes! Daddy said I could get a brother, but I really wanted a sister. I thought the wedding was pretty big, but Grandma Esme said it was rather small. Who cared, though? All the important people were going to be there. Grandma Renee was making the cake, and she was making it just the way I told her to! Daddy said Mommy was a stick in the mud when it came to details, so he was putting his trust in me. I was going to make their day perfect!

A few days before the wedding, I met the strangest woman. I kept seeing her all around, and when we were at the park, she came and talked to me. She asked if she could hug me and everything. I was at the park with Emily and Sam because it was a nice day out. I went and told Sam about the lady, but when he went to take care of her, she ran to her car and left. Sam called Dad, and we all met at my house. Mom was chewing on her thumb, and when she saw me she hugged me tight. When my dad was mad, he was really scary. I felt bad for making them worry with the wedding just days away. I didn't want to ruin it for them.

"Lynny, I'm not mad at you, but I want to know what this lady looked like," Daddy said as he bounced his knee.

"She had long brown hair and the same color eyes as you and me," I told him as he hung his head.

"What did she say to you?" Mom asked.

"Just that I grew up to be very pretty and she asked if she could hug me, but I got scared and ran away."

"Good girl," Dad said, making me smile. I knew then that he wasn't mad at me. "Go play so I can talk to Mommy."

"Can I play on the computer?" I asked, to which they said yes. I didn't know who the lady was, but I knew Daddy didn't like her talking to me.

EPOV

"It had to Rose," Bella said as I nodded. "I think you should call your parent's." She was right.

"Hey," my father said in greeting. "What's going on?"

"Tell Rose to stay away from my family. I do not want her at the wedding. Ya know what? I'll be over there in a few minutes," I said, hanging up the phone.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Bella asked. "We can take Ash to my mom."

"Yeah, you can keep my head on straight," I said as I took her hand. I was going to try my best not to lose my head with my sister. Although, this was classic Rosalie. When she wanted something bad enough, she would make sure she got it. She had been like that since we were kids. Once we dropped Ashlynn off, we made our way to the hotel. Bella was being really quiet, and I knew she realized that I would easily flip if she said something. I would have to say sorry for it later, but right now I needed to face my sister and get on with my life.

When we pulled up to the hotel, my heart was racing. I honestly wasn't even sure what to say to her. I knew that no matter what, we would never be close again. I let Bella tell me her opinion a while ago, but I didn't agree with her, so I have ignored her ever since. I sat in the car so I could gather my thoughts, and Bella just ran her fingers over my arm.

"I really don't know what I'm doing," I said as Bella sighed.

"Just say what you need to say," she told me as I looked at her.

"She's going to want to come to the wedding."

"That's your call. She may just want to see for herself that you and Ashlynn are okay," she said as I rolled my eyes.

"You're getting mushy," I said, making her laugh.

"Yeah, these pregnancy hormones are getting to me," she said, making me smile. We found out last week we were going to have baby. Neither one of thought it was going to be so easy. We haven't even told anyone yet; we decided to wait until she was twelve weeks along before we announced it.

"Maybe this isn't the best idea for you," I said as I reached over and rubbed her still flat belly. She was almost eight weeks along and I couldn't wait to tell the world that I was going to be a daddy again.

"I'll be fine; this is your thing, not mine," she said, rubbing my hand. "I love you and I will support whatever you want to do."

"Okay, let's go," I said, getting out of the car. She met me at the front of the car and the look in her eyes surprised me. She wasn't nervous, she looked excited or anxious. I couldn't read her anymore. The other day she started crying because her pants were wrinkled. We got to the door and I pounded my fist into the wood.

"Edward," Dad said.

"Where is she?" I asked, seething with anger.

"I'm right here," Rose said as I saw her stand. "Look, I'm sorry…"

"You don't get to say sorry for this," Bella said, jumping in. "You scared the crap out of my daughter!" Bella swung her hand and slapped Rose hard across the face.

"I understand," Rose said, taking the hit my baby gave her.

"Bella…" I said in warning, "chill."

"Sorry," she muttered. "Wait…you did this on purpose!"

"What?" I asked as Bella stared Rose down.

"You did this because you knew we would know it was you and that we would come looking for you!" Bella half yelled. "I would rather have had you come to my house than stalk my daughter!"

"I understand, and you're right, but even if I came to your house, you would have never let me see her. She is so beautiful," Rose said as tears filled her eyes. "Edward, I know you hate me and you have every right to, but I want you to know how sorry I am. Saying sorry will NEVER be enough. Spending seven years in jail cleaned me up and made me realize what a terrible person I had become. Bella's right, I did this so you would see me. I want you to know I'm not that person anymore and I feel so different. You can never hate me as much as I hate myself."

"Rose, because of you, I lost seven years! I stayed to protect you because I believed that Royce would have killed you. I did what I did for you! Neither of us knew what he was capable of, and I didn't want to find out. Now that I look back, we should have run as fast as we could. But because of everything, I met the woman who is becoming my wife. Who knows if I would have ever met her otherwise? You can come to my wedding because I want you to see the family I have here. I want you to see what I missed the last seven years. Know this, though: you will never be a permanent fixture in our lives. You will never be introduced as my sister, and Ashlynn will never know you as Aunt Rose," I said as she cried.

"Do you think one day we will be okay?" she asked as the tears fell down her face. "Do you think we could ever get back to being family?"

"Right now, no," I said softly as I heard sniffles. I looked to my right to see Bella with tears on her cheeks. "Why are you crying?!"

"Because," was her answer, making me laugh.

"Oh, Baby," I said, pulling her to me. "Don't cry over this."

"I believe her," Bella said with a hiccup.

"And you are too trusting," I told her as she shrugged.

"I'm sorry," she said as she turned to Rose. "I will introduce you to Ash as a friend, and you will apologize to her for scaring her so badly. After that, Edward makes all the calls, but I'm going to promise you this. If you ever come to our home with some criminal, thinking we will stand by you, you are wrong."

"Bella, what happened with Royce will never happen again. I was young, dumb, and full of so much coke I didn't know left from right. Maybe if I wasn't on the drugs, I would have been thinking clearly; maybe things would have been different. I'm sorry," Rose said again.

"We are going to go. We'll see you later," I said as I took a crying Bella by the hand. Thank god my family didn't know her well enough to know she isn't a crier. Now if Renee saw this, she would know that something was going on.

"Rose, I'm kind of sort of sorry I slapped you," Bella said, making me chuckle.

"Don't worry about it," my mom said. "I would have slapped the crap out of someone for scaring my kids, too." I couldn't help but laugh.

Maybe one day we would be okay, but not anytime soon.

* * *

There you have it! Two more to go. Thanks to my girls for all the help they give me, it means the world to me.


	18. Chapter 18

I fixed my pants for the hundredth time. The last thing I wanted to happen was to have my fly down throughout the ceremony. I was getting married and I couldn't wait! I couldn't believe it was happening. Bella and I were going to be Husband and Wife. I was staring out the window of the church basement, watching the guests arrive. It was almost time. Emmett and Sam were all ready to go, and we were just waiting to be told what to do.

I had learned something new about my wife-to-be—she is superstitious. She didn't want to tell anyone about the baby because it was considered bad luck until she was twelve weeks along. She also made me leave the house because she couldn't see me until she walked down the aisle. Friday the thirteenth scared the crap out of her, too. The little tidbits I learned made me love her even more. I was letting her have her way because we wanted all the luck we could get.

"Edward," I heard someone say, pulling me from my thoughts. I turned to see a very nervous looking Rose standing in the door way.

"What?" I asked with an eye roll. She was really the last person I wanted to see.

"I brought you something," she said, holding out her hand to me. "Do you remember when we were little and we played wedding?"

"Yeah," I said with a chuckle.

"Remember when you said every groom needed a hankie?" I shook my head, thinking about when we were little. "I found this before we left to come here." She held out the old bandana I used to stuff in the collar of my shirt.

"You kept this?" I asked as I took it with a laugh.

"Yeah…you were the best groom ever," she said with a laugh.

"I was your only groom," I said as I joined her in laughter. I just couldn't believe that she had kept such a funny thing. "Thanks for this."

"You're welcome…I love you," she said as I sighed. She was always my best friend, but now it was hard to even look at her.

"Rosalie, I do love you, but it is going to take me a long while to have an ounce of trust for you," I said, looking her in the face.

"I understand. What happened…you should have just let Royce kill me…" she said as tears fell on her cheeks. "I never would have hated you if you had."

"Bella told Lynny a while ago that you have to live to learn, and that is what we did. Actions speak louder than words, and that's what I'm doing. That's what you need to do, too," I said as I pulled her to me and hugged her. She clung to my tuxedo jacket and cried.

"I'm so happy for you," she said as she pulled away.

"I'm one lucky son of a bitch, I'll tell ya that much," I said, putting the bandana in my pocket.

"You are, and you better hang on to her. I think she is one in a million," Rose said, melting my heart.

"Daddy, Mommy's sick! She's puking her guts up. She said she would trip me if I came and got you, but she's sick and I didn't know what else to do," Ashlynn said as she ran into the room.

"She'll be okay," I said with a chuckle at her panic. "Her toothbrush should be in her purse. Get that for her and she will be fine."

"Dude, why are you acting like it is no big deal? I'll go check on her," Sam said, standing up.

"Daddy…that's the lady from the park," Ashlynn said, clinging to Sam.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked her. "What are you doing here?!" Sam roared at her, making Rose jump.

"This is my sister," I said as the room fell silent.

"Sister or not, you don't scare a little girl half to death! Come on, Kid," Sam said, heading for the door.

"Is Ashlynn in here?" I heard Charlie ask. "Your mom is fine and feeling better. She just has a nervous belly."

"See? I told you she would be fine," I said as Ash smiled at me. Charlie looked at me and then his eyes turned angry when he saw Rose. He glared at her as she stood behind me. Charlie looked back to me with pleading eyes and I nodded my head. No one wanted today to be ruined.

"Come on, Kiddo, it's time," Charlie said as he took Lynny by the hand and walked her out.

"He's scary," Rose said, making us all laugh.

"He should be — he's the Chief of police," Emmett explained, offering his arm to Rose.

"For real? No wonder he glared at me so harshly," she said, taking Emmett's arm. "I'm Rose."

"Emmett," he told her with a smile. "Are you in town for long?"

"'Til tomorrow," she answered as I rolled my eyes.

"Well…we should do something because you are the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen in my life," he said as she blushed. I wondered if Royce ever said that to her.

"That's very nice of you, but dating is on hold for the next five years or so…" she admitted honestly.

"Well that makes me very sad," Emmett said, making her laugh. "I guess we have to be friends until then."

"Sure; if my brother likes you, then you must be decent."

"Decent? I'm the best!" he said as Rose laughed loudly. Maybe she was changing, but I wasn't letting my guard down yet.

I blinked and the ceremony was over. All I remembered was seeing my wife walk down the aisle. She looked like an angel and it was hard to believe she was all mine. Ashlynn's excitement was over the moon, making her extremely hyper. She said it was the second happiest day of her life — my coming home was number one. She knew how to melt my heart. Honestly, more people showed up than I thought would, but it was truly one of the best days of my life.

As the reception started, Bella and I were announced as Man and Wife, and the sound of that was amazing. I was married to the best woman in the world. We danced our first dance, and when I saw that my wife couldn't dance, it just made me love her more. During the father daughter dance, Ashlynn and I joined Bella and Charlie on the dance floor. It was really the perfect day.

We were only taking a small honeymoon, but we were okay with just having one night alone. Honestly, Ashlynn was gone at least one night out of almost every weekend, so we had plenty of time for just the two of us. Life for me had gotten so much better. I never thought I would be where I am today. I have so much beautiful in my life. I have my wife, our daughter, our home, and our new baby on the way; I couldn't ask for anything more. There weren't many people in the world like Bella. I was just so lucky to find her when I needed her. I owed her so much in life, and I knew I wanted to give her the world. I wasn't sure where to start, honestly, but I had my whole life to plan it out.

~~~RA~~~

"Ashlynn!" I yelled up the stairs. "Come down here. Mommy and I want to talk to you." Bella was three months along, and she gave me the go ahead to start telling people. Ashlynn was first, then I was calling my parents and Rose.

"What's up?" she asked as she sat between us on the couch.

"How do you feel about being a big sister?" I asked as she shrugged.

"Are you adopting?" she asked as Bella and I looked at each other.

"Why would you think that?" Bella asked our daughter.

"I was watching TLC and they said woman over thirty had a harder time getting pregnant," she said, making us chuckle.

"No, we aren't adopting," I said with another chuckle.

"I'm pregnant," Bella said as our girl smiled.

"I hope it's a girl and she's just like me!" Lynny said with a huge smile. "What could we name her…Jade? No, Tori! Yeah, I like that name."

"Ash it could be a boy," I said as Lynny giggled.

"It could be, but I'm pretty sure it's a girl," Ashlynn said as she moved to get up. "I'm gonna look up names… I'll figure this part out; you just rub your belly."

"Oh my god, our daughter is insane," Bella laughed as I cuddled up next to her rubbing her belly. "I'm happy."

"Happy isn't the right word for me. Exultant is more like it!"

"That's a very big word for you," she said, kissing the corner of my mouth.

"It sounds better than happy," I said with smile.

"Whatever you say, Dear," she said with a laugh. "Go make your phone calls." I smiled, giving her one more kiss. I was excited to tell anyone that would listen that I was going to be a father again. Like I said: life was good and I couldn't ask for more.

* * *

Only the epi left!


	19. Chapter 19

Ten years later…

"Daddy, am I the favorite or is Sissy?" Ethan asked as we sat on the couch.

"I don't have a favorite," I said, putting my arm around my son.

"Sissy said you love her more because she was first," he explained as I shook my head. Ashlynn was a fucking handful at nineteen. "Wanna know why I should be the favorite?"

"Why's that?"

"Because, Sissy has a boyfriend with a motorcycle. He was here last night and they were kissing. I saw them out the window; they were being loud and it woke me up. He even has a tattoo on his neck," E told me as my eyes went wide.

"Do you know where Sissy is now?" I asked, knowing I was going to freak on her when I saw her again.

"She's with Mommy doing something at school," he said, making me remember.

So, my daughter had a boyfriend. Said boyfriend had a motorcycle and a tattoo… Yeah, I was scared. As soon as Ashlynn and Bella got home, I stood in front of them with my arms crossed over my chest. My girls looked between each other, wondering which one I was mad at. I swear sometimes I felt like I had three kids.

"I wasn't me," Bella said as Ashlynn's shoulders slumped.

"What did I do this time?" she asked with a bored sigh.

"So, I was informed that you had a boyfriend," I said as Lynny got this starry look in her eyes. I hated it.

"Oh yeah," Bella said as if it was no big deal.

"You knew?" I asked as I saw Ethan's face pop over the couch.

"I thought Sissy was in trouble, not Mommy," he said with a huff.

"They both are… Go play in your room for a little bit," I told him as he pouted.

"I never get to stay for the good stuff," he said, stomping his way toward the stairs.

"You have a big mouth, Kid," Ashlynn said to her mopey little brother.

"At least I'm the favorite," he said quickly, sticking his tongue out at her. This was why I had gray hair.

"Don't you remember Aidan from when I was little?" Ash asked with a huff.

"Yeah, that scrawny kid that moved away years ago?" I asked.

"Yeah, well he's my boyfriend," she said as if it was no big deal. "He's grown up a lot in the last few years. He moved back six months ago, and I was the first person he looked for. He said he never forgot me and that I got hot. He just showed up at work one day and asked for me. I didn't even know it was him!"

"Ashlynn, he has a motorcycle and a tattoo," I said as Bella laughed. "Woman this is not a laughing matter."

"Tattoos, Daddy. He has a lot of them. He's so smart, too! He could have graduated early, but when he found out they were moving back here, he wanted to graduate with me. How romantic is that?" she said as Bella awed.

"You are my wife! You need to be on my side with this," I pleaded with Bella.

"I've always liked Aidan," she said with a shrug. "Babe, she is nineteen…"

"I don't give a fuck if she's thirty…"

"Hey! Daddy, will you meet him first? I think I'm in love with him. He reminds me of you and he's so wonderful," she said as I held my chest and sat down in the barstool. All Bella did was laugh at me.

"Ash, I think that's a great idea. Why don't you invite him over?" my traitor wife suggested as Lynny skipped out of the room. "Don't be dramatic."

"She said he's like me… I have every right to be scared," I said as she walked to me, kissing my lips. Just then, we heard Ashlynn scream, and Ethan's giggles got louder as he came running into the room to hide behind his mother.

"MOM! He was under my bed and he grabbed my ankles," Ashlynn said as I tried not to laugh. That's what she gets for almost giving me my first heart attack.

"Ethan…" Bella said, trying to hide her laughter.

"I know I shouldn't do it, but she's so easy," he said with a giggle. "I'll say sorry when she's done being mad."

"Sounds like a plan," I said, rubbing his head. He left the room with a giggle and I heard the TV click on. "I'm not ready to meet a boyfriend."

"Well, I think we were lucky," Bella said with a sigh.

"This bothers you too, right? I'm not alone in this?"

"No, I'm sad she is so grown, but we have done an amazing job with her," she said as I agreed.

"Fine… I'll be nice, but if I think he's a douche I'm saying something!"

Bella made a big supper and Ashlynn kept cleaning our already clean house. I sat on the couch with my hand sitting inside my shorts. Ashlynn didn't find me funny. 'Take a shower, Daddy' and 'you need to change' was all my little girl was saying to me. I didn't even move off the couch until I heard the doorbell. Even then, I just threw on a t-shirt.

"Just ignore my dad. Don't be mean or rude, but don't get upset if he hurts your feelings," Ash said to her guy. I was feeling a little bad — just a little.

"Babe, no worries. I still remember the nasty looks he gave me when we were little," the kid said, making me chuckle.

"Yeah, but he hates that you're all hot now with tats and a motorcycle," she said as I rolled my eyes.

"Lynny, you worry too much. Your dad will like me hopefully before I die." Well, at least he was realistic. I stopped listening when I heard dreadful kissing noises.

"My daughter taste good?" I asked as the two of them jumped away from each other.

"No sir…yes sir…I mean, I don't taste your daughter. Um, I'm just gonna…" Aidan said, crossing his arms over his chest.

I felt a little proud of myself to be honest. Aidan was at least six foot tall, covered in tattoos, and I scared the shit out of him. Yeah, that made me feel good. I heard Ashlynn huff as I walked away, and they came in holding hands. She didn't look pleased with me and he looked embarrassed.

"Hey, Dude, will do me a favor?" Ethan asked Aidan.

"Um…sure," Aidan said, looking from Ethan to Ashlynn.

"We can be friends, but you can't stick your tongue in her mouth," E said as I chocked on my drink.

"Baby, don't talk like that. Daddy's heart can't take it," Bella said as I coughed.

"Well, I was just saying," Ethan said with a sigh. "I want to be able to hang with him too, but not if they are going to be gross."

"Remember how Lynny used to say the same thing about us?" I said as Bella laughed. "And if I remember correctly, didn't she say she would punch a boy if they kissed her and their lips were covered with spit?"

"Oh god, that day was so funny," Bella said as we laughed at our daughter's expanse.

"Number one, it's still gross when the two of you kiss," Ash said as E agreed. "Number two… I don't remember ever saying that."

"Anyway, what are your plans for after graduation?" Bella asked Aidan.

"Well, right now I'm an apprentice at my dad's tattoo shop, and I'm going to UW for art and business," he said as I rolled my eyes.

"He does amazing work," Ashlynn said with a proud smile.

"So you have done some tattoos?" my wife asked.

"I've done a couple on my dad, and I've done one for…" he said, trailing off as Ashlynn paled.

"You're nineteen, Kid," I said as Ashlynn blew out a breath.

"Wait? You have a tattoo?!" Bella half yelled, making me smile. "You aren't okay with her having a boyfriend, but it's okay for her to have a tattoo?!"

"I'm just picking my battles here," I said. "I've known for weeks, anyway. It's on her right shoulder blade. It's a fairy or something."

"When did you see it?" Ashlynn asked me.

"Lynn, I have tats, too, and yours is very colorful. It caught my eye when you were putting up your hair," I said. Her having a tattoo didn't bother me.

"I wanna see it!" Ethan said excitedly. Ash turned around and pulled down the shoulder of her shirt. I took the time to really look at it. The fairy was bigger than I thought, and she had my name at the top and Bella and Ethan's names by each arm of the fairy.

"Oh…it's so pretty," Bella said, getting up to look at it more closely.

"I drew it for her," Aidan said. I was a little impressed. He really did a fantastic job.

"Huh, maybe you can draw something up for me. I still need to get one for Ethan," I said as Aidan smiled.

"What were you thinking?" he asked me.

"I don't know, something boyish," I answered as Ethan smiled.

"Boyish — I think I can work with that," Aidan said.

"Just do a boy playing in the mud," Ash said, sticking her tongue out at her brother.

"That would be pretty cool," Aidan said as Ashlynn stared at him. "What? I couldn't do it, but my dad could. You should stop in and take a look around."

"Maybe I will," I said as Ashlynn smiled.

By the end of dinner, I almost liked the kid. He seemed to have a good head on his shoulders and I truly thought he cared for my daughter. It was hard to believe that my baby girl was all grown up. She was graduating soon, she had a boyfriend, that I kind of liked, and she had a tattoo. Next thing I knew, she was going to come to me to tell me she was married. Time was moving too fast, and I felt like I was missing so much even though I was right there for everything.

That night, when I was in bed holding my wife, I reflected on all the good in my life. I smiled at all the amazing memories I had with my family. Even Rose and I had come a long way. She married Emmett a few years ago, and I was so happy that I could be there for her. She changed so much and became so strong. Emmett was her perfect match. People say that there is no such thing as a perfect life, but my life was perfect for me and I couldn't ask for more.

~The End~

* * *

That's it for this one! I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to review. I love them and they honestly keep me posting even when I'm read to walk away. Thanks to teamalltwilight and weekitty for being amazing, for being there to read everything I put out, and for my the best sounding boards ever. Thanks to, toocute24 for the beta work.

Next story will post April 1st! I'm still working out the summary, so I can't give you that.

Title: Everyone Has A Story

Teaser: "We need an office manager—someone to keep our asses organized and who knows how to keep books," Emmett said as I smiled widely.

"You're joking, right?"

"No, why?" the hot guys asked.

"I'm not speaking to you. You're an asshole. I bet you're not married," I said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Burn!" Emmett said with a loud laugh. "You're hired."

"No way! I don't want some mouthy bitch working with us."

"Edward, I have a good feeling about her."

"Edward…do you want someone that will bow down to you and do as you say?" I asked as he stared at me. "Are you the boss?"

Hope to see you all again when this post!


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